Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY: Runners look forward to race

By Matt DiFilippo mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- With all the talk about bad weather lately, it's comforting to read the forecast for today's Scot Laliberte Invitational at Cony High School: Temperatures in the 70s, with a slight breeze.

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THE CHAMP IS BACK: Messalonskee’s Harlow Ladd (342) won the Scot Laliberte Invitational last season and used it as a spring board to a dominant season. He’ll be back to defend his title in the race today.

Staff file photo by Michael G. Seamans

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Scot Laliberte Invitational
When: 3 p.m. today
Where: Cony High School

The annual high school cross country race is named in honor of Laliberte, a former Cony runner who was killed in a car accident in 2000. Cony coach Shawn Totman expects 23 or 24 teams and about 400 to 500 runners.

In this race, the boys and girls start their races together. The varsity races begin at 3 p.m., an hour earlier than originally scheduled. Totman said if the races had started at 4 p.m., things would have been wrapping up around 6, and that might create a problem with the cross country fans leaving and the crowd arriving for the 7 p.m. Cony-Gardiner football game at the same time.

Messalonskee's Harlow Ladd and Maranacook's Abby Mace won the boys and girls races, respectively, last season. Both are seniors, and although Mace has won the past three Laliberte Invitationals and is healthy, she is choosing not to race this afternoon.

"I just decided I would start a week later and not do every single race," Mace said. "My coach and I talked about it and decided it would be better to start a little later."

Mace indicated she would miss the enjoyment she gets out of the race more than the chance to be a four-time champion.

"I like this race a lot," she said. "The atmosphere is laid-back, and I like to get to run with the boys."

Even though it's a fun race, Totman pointed out that it's not an easy run on the 2.4-mile course, especially for this time of year.

"It's a challenging 2.4, no doubt about it," Totman said. "About 600 meters into the race, there's a hill that's almost 700 meters long. You get a little break, jog around a field. It's deceptive. Probably about a mile and a half until two miles, it's really hilly and very (winding)."

Last year, Ladd's win in this race served as a springboard to a standout season in which he won both the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A and Eastern A races.

"I think of (this race) as like a confidence booster," Ladd said. "It shows how I'm going to stack up with the rest of Class A. It really is just an indicator of how the summer went and what kind of shape you're in."

Ladd said he has been training for more than a month, and he's both eager to run in a competitive race and well aware of how many more months and races are in the future.

"It's kind of daunting, because it is a really long season," Ladd said. "I know there's a long road ahead."

With that in mind, Mace has some advice as a veteran of the race.

"The end of the season is where you can get more serious," she said. "Just go out and kind of see what you can do. Push yourself, don't overdo it and have fun."

Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com