FARMINGTON — The Mt. Blue High School boys and girls cross country teams were both presented with the Northern Maine Class A Sportsmanship banner at the Class A State Championship meet on Saturday, Nov. 2. Competitively the Mt. Blue boys placed 11th and the girls were 12th in Class A.

The boys finish was a little disappointing, as the Cougars had hoped to place in the top eight teams. Nevertheless the boys put in an excellent effort and were not far off that goal. Henri McCourt again led the way for Mt. Blue placing 11th. His time of 16:45 also placed 15th among all classes combined, earning him one of the 25 spots that qualified for the New England Cross Country Championship in Manchester, Connecticut on Saturday, Nov. 9.

Also competing for Mt. Blue were Ben Hatch [53], Eli Hoeft [64], Noah Civiello [78], Eli Young [86], Wyatt Oliver [95], and Damian Wynn [101].

The Mt. Blue girls had already surpassed pre-season expectations simply by qualifying for the state meet, but also saw some outstanding performances at the meet. Nora McCourt was the top runner for Mt. Blue, placing 16th in Class A. Her time of 20:45 was 36th among all classes combined, the best overall finish for a Mt. Blue girl since Emma Charles qualified for New Englands in 2021.

Other runners for Mt. Blue were Elizabeth Strickland [52], Astrid Jones [71], Lucy Knowles [73], Karoline Gonzales [82], Brielle Tinker [84], and Juliette Poussier [85]. Both Elizabeth and Juliette had the distinction of running lifetime bests on a tough course with many rolling hills.