BELFAST, Maine — The last time the Orono Red Riots raced on the 3.1-mile cross-country course at the Troy Howard Middle School, they got a surprise.
LaSalle Academy of Providence, Rhode Island, ranked 11th nationally, signed up for the Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions on short notice after the meet it planned to run that day in North Carolina was canceled due to wet weather related to Hurricane Joaquin.
LaSalle swept to the FOC title in hurricane-like fashion, with four of the top five finishers en route to a meet-record low total of 30 points.
Orono, the two-time defending Maine Class C champion and runner-up at the 2014 FOC, finished 90 points behind in second place.
“It was such an amazing opportunity to race against them because they’re ranked so high nationally and all of them are so phenomenal as individuals,” said Orono junior Kassidy Dill.
“At first we were a little nervous seeing that they had entered the race the day before,” added Orono classmate Tia Tardy, the lone non-LaSalle runner among the top five finishers with her fourth-place effort, “but I think they helped us by pushing us. It was cool to race them.”
Coach Lin White’s Red Riots should face no such surprises Saturday as the state’s North regional championships are held on the same course.
The Red Riots put on a LaSalle-like performance in last year’s Eastern C regional, with a 1-3 finish by junior Hannah Steelman and Dill pacing four Orono runners in the top six, along with fifth-place Olivia Fandel and sixth-place Liza Gallandt.
All four runners are back on a roster deepened by Tardy — second to Steelman at last year’s regional while competing for Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln — and freshman Camille Kohtala.
Tardy cited her interest in Orono’s music program and related classes for transferring schools, so now instead of battling Steelman and Dill for top finishes, they are pursuing common goals.
“I found out she was coming here and the initial thought was that it was going to be awesome for the team,” said Steelman last weekend after Orono won its seventh straight Penobscot Valley Conference small-school girls team title. “It wasn’t really focusing on the competition between us because of what we had last year, it was more focusing on that she was going to make our team better and that she’s very talented so she was going to make us faster and better in workouts.
“It was definitely a transition but it’s been a transition for the best. She’s been a wonderful addition to our team.”
Orono’s chief challenger at the Class C girls regional should be George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill. GSA placed second at the PVCs with sophomores Eliza Broughton, Zeya Lorio and Mary Richardson finishing 4-5-6 behind Tardy, Steelman and Dill.
