BELFAST — As junior Sam Laverdiere reached the home stretch of last Saturday’s Class B state cross-country championship in Belfast, he was the race’s leader, but he kept a watchful eye on defending champ Carter Libby of Gray-NG.

Libby was lurking, and Laverdiere expected his top competitor to make a move.

“That was one of the most intense races I’ve ever done,” Laverdiere said in a post-race interview. “He’s done this to me so many times, where he’s just sat back and just closed on me when I started dying toward the end. So, I knew I couldn’t let that happen this time.”

Sam Laverdiere finished what he started.

The Laker junior controlled the title race from start to finish, winning the Class B title in 15:52 at the Troy Howard MS Cross-Country Course in Belfast.

Laverdiere executed his game plan perfectly — taking control early, setting a good pace to be sure no one was in a position to “out kick him” to the finish line, and having the stamina left to fend off any late challenge — including one by Carter Libby.

“Sam controlled the race from start to finish, earning the title of Class B State Champion. I was impressed with his ability to hold off Carter Libby (the defending Class B champion) each time he attempted to close the gap, particularly in the final 200 meters or so,” Lake Region varsity XC Coach Laura Pulito said. “All season, these two have swapped wins back and forth, and on a number of occasions Carter’s strong finishing kick has been the determining factor, but not Saturday. Sam has improved on his closing speed and his ability to remain confident and relaxed when running out front.”

His winning time of 15:52 was five seconds ahead of Carter’s 15:57. Sam automatically qualified for the New England Championship meet back in Belfast.

“It will be exciting to see what he can do against the best in New England,” Coach Pulito said. “He definitely has the advantage of being familiar with the course, as it will be his third time racing on it this season, and hopefully some good confidence heading in as the Class B champion.”

Sam’s goal is to reach a sub 15:30. He plans to “just give everything I have.”

The Laker boys’ team placed fifth out of the 13 Class B teams, while being only 3 points off of fourth place (GNG) and 11 points off of third place (Greely). For some perspective as to how close this is, they were 37 points ahead of the sixth-place team. They were 13th out of the 40 combined teams from Class A, B, and C.

Other impressive performances came from Aidan Roberts, Bhavnish Tucker, and Michael Clarke.

“Each of them did exactly what we needed them to do if they wanted a shot at placing ahead of GNG and Greely, and though they fell a bit short, we couldn’t have asked for much more out of them and are really proud of their efforts,” Coach Pulito said. 

Aidan, who is a junior and first-year runner, is still learning the intricacies of racing but placed 11th while running a PR (personal record) of 16:53. He missed qualifying for New Englands by just a two-second margin, though with some more experience, he could very well get redemption next year. 

Bhavnish, the four-year veteran of the boys’ team, tied his PR of 17:06 and placed 14th overall. Last year at States, he was 28th.

“His progress over the past four years, starting out as a middle-to-back-of-the-pack runner and finishing as one of the best in the state has been impeccable and has inspired a number of the underclassmen on the team. He is the true definition of a leader by example,” Coach Pulito said.

Michael, also a senior, continued his streak as a key performer for the team. He did exactly what we needed him to do, which was break up GNG’s #4 and #5 runners, and ran a PR of 18:34 in the process, placing 51st.

“Mike runs with more heart than most, and this year he really put in the work training-wise. He is so deserving of the season he’s had and finishing it on a high note,” the LR coach noted.

Finally, the Lakers’ #5-#7 runners — Ethan Kutella (19:52), Lucian Bassett (21:11), and Gabe Lunt (21:18) — also ran tough. Coach Pulito said having the season extended by a week presented a bit of a challenge in the sense that it can be difficult to remain healthy and sharp for the duration as-is, and despite some physical challenges, “they approached the race with the right mentality and did what they could on the day.” Ethan and Lucian will hopefully get to experience States again next year while Gabe, who hasn’t been able to run for the past two weeks, really left it all out there on the course to finish his senior season.

“It was really good to see him have the opportunity to run at States after some uncertainty regarding an Achilles injury,” Coach Pulito said.

On the girls’ side, senior Abigail Roberts represented the Lakers after qualifying individually at the Regional meet. She placed 13th out of the 94 girls competing in Class B with a time of 20:22 (race winner was Cary Drake of York at 18:08), and in the combined results which included classes A, B, and C she was 44th out of 290, reinforcing that she is among the best in the state.

“In a way, this was a bittersweet ending for her as she did not qualify for New Englands like she did last year, but the field was incredibly competitive and some unique challenges have been thrown her way in the past few weeks,” Coach Pulito said. “Yet, what she HAS achieved in just two years of XC is nothing short of impressive, and she will be remembered as one of the most accomplished Laker XC athletes. She has been an absolute joy to coach and has done so much for the program. She will be deeply missed.”