Category Archives: Bridgton

July 4, 2022 · 3:18 pm

Eric Ashe and Heather Gallant win 46th annual Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

46th annual Bridgton 4 on the Fourth gets underway

(Bridgton) Eric Ashe of Natick (MA) was the top finisher in the 46^th annual Bridgton 4 on the Fourth road race.

Eric Ashe (Natick) wins the Bridgon 4 on the Fourth

Heather Gallant of Wayne (ME) was the repeat winner among the women.

Nearly 1500 runners participated under sunny skies departing from in front of Food City at 8AM.

Eric Ashe was visiting his mother in Greenwood during the holiday weekend.

“I talked myself into driving over and running the race,” said Eric afterwards. “The cash price covers the gas expenses.”

Sasha/Scott Mindel (Burlington) have family on Moose Pond but hadn’t run the race before.

The two of them ran today, and both came in second.

“Our A goal was for both of us to come in first,” said Scott afterwards.

“I had seen the recent results, so I thought that I had a chance to win,” Scott added.

Eric Ashe (885) and Scott Mindel (766) at the start of the race

That optimism suffered a bit of a jolt before the race started.

“At the warmups, I saw Eric (Ashe),” said Scott. “He generally beats me, but I’ve beaten him a couple of times.”

For a mile the talented twosome stayed together. Then came the hills.

“The uphill started, and I tried to maintain the same effort,” recalled Eric. “Luckily, I was able to open a gap and keep it. I think the gap got bigger.”

“He’s much better on the uphills than I am,” said Scott. “When the uphill started today, I was hoping to keep him within close enough distance because I’m better on the downhills.”

“But Eric got too much on me and I couldn’t make a move until the downhill in the last mile,” said Scott. “It was too late by then.”

“At least it was a fun last mile,” he added with a smile.

Eric finished at 20:06 and had a thirteen-second lead over Scott.

Heather Gallant (Wayne) won last year.

“I was happy with last year’s weather and this years’ time (23:26),” she said.

2021 was rainy with temperatures in the fifties.

Heather was 15^th overall today.

Heather didn’t face any serious challengers from today’s runners. Her closing time was 23:26. The next woman to finish (Sasha Mindel) closed at 24:58.

“I hung out with a couple of guys during the race,” said Heather afterwards. “I pace off them. They’re good about doing that.”

Heather said she felt better prepared this time. “I had a couple more races coming into this one compared to last year. The hills here are still memorable.”

Sasha Mindel, who had a daughter last year, was glad just to be out there running. “This is only my second race since having her,” she said. “It was the first time it felt as if everything clicked.”

All four runners I talked with enjoyed the Bridgton race and would return if they could.

Scott Mindel told me that he had run at the University of Cincinnati. “I now run for the Central Mass Striders. I do a lot of races including marathons.”

Eric Ashe attended Boston University. “I saw online that guys were doing twenty-flat here,” he said, “so I knew it would be competitive. I am focusing on marathons. I did one in Minnesota two weeks ago.”

Joseph Reynolds (3^rd), Andrew Mongiat (4^th), and Chris Harmon (5^th) were in the top five.

Race Director Bill Graham again ran things smoothly.

The object is to have the male and female winners run through a banner at the finish line. It’s always easy with the male. The female…not always. Today was an example. Female leader Heather Gallant was close behind another runner near the finish and when the banner went up that runner (Thomad Lyons) got wrapped in it.

(The pictures should enlarge if you click on them.)

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Filed under Bridgton, Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Tagged as Andrew Mongiat, Bill Graham, Bridgton, Chris Harmon, Eric Ashe, Heather Gallant, Joseph Reynolds, Sasha Mindel, Scott Mindel

July 6, 2019 · 2:09 pm

Dominic Sclafani wins the 17th Harrison 5K Run by the Lake

Start of Harrison’s Run by the Lake

Dominic Sclafani finishes nearly two minutes ahead of everyone else

Dominic Sclafani near the finish

Natasha Leighton led the female finishers

(Harrison ME) Dominic Sclafani, of Harrison, won the 17^th Harrison 5K Run by the Lake for the third straight year on Saturday morning.

The Wheaton College (Norton MA) sophomore runs cross country there and easily bested the field today winning by over two minutes.

“It was just a workout,” he told me afterwards. “I raced two days ago (Bridgton 4 on the Fourth) and didn’t want to push it. I wanted to run a 5:20-5:30 pace per mile.”

Dominic finished in 16:48 and ran 5:25 miles.

Natasha Leighton, an experienced runner from Bridgton, led the women. She finished tenth overall (21:28).

“This was the first time I’ve done this race,” she said. “It’s actually hillier than I expected. I usually do a 4^th of July race but couldn’t so I decided to do this one instead.”

As I stated above, Dominic cruised in uncontested. The race for second? About as exciting as it could be! David Krall entered the final forty-yard (?) stretch on Lincoln Street with a ten-yard lead over Cameron Gilmore. Didn’t look as if there was enough race left for Cameron to catch Dave, but he did. Trust me, Dave didn’t slow down. It was about Cameron closing with a rush.

Plenty of heat around even for the 9AM morning start. Yesterday was in the 90’s.

This race has (always?) been run during Harrison’s Old Home Days Week in the past. Surprising (to me) OHD was called off……no carnival, no parade etc.. I thought that the 5K might suffer the same fate but saw it listed in the Bridgton News with day and time changes. It was formerly on Wednesdays starting at 7PM.

The changes certainly impacted the turnout. There were only sixty-four finishers and none from any of the nearby camps. Maybe next year?

Dominic: “I think I’ll run the race in Lovell (July 20^th) but that would be my last one before I get back to school on August 17^th. I have changed my major (formerly bio/chem) to physics/chemistry. I was always more interested in physics than I was in biology. I have increased my mileage since the summer started and it has helped taper my asthma a little bit.”

Natasha: “Marathons are kind of my thing. I have done twenty-four of them. I like to do 5K’s because it helps with my speed and leg turnover. I plan to do the Baystate Marathon in Lowell (MA) in October and the Boston Marathon in April. I have lived in Bridgton for five years and work at the Bridgton Hospital.”

Race results

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Natasha Leighton finishes 10th

Natasha Leighton pre-race

Race underway

Bear Brooks – 4th

David Brooks – 5th

Bo Brooks (85) – 7th and Erik Martin (144) – 6th

Daniel Brabender – 8th

Noah Currier – 9th

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Filed under Bridgton, Harrison 5K Run by the Lake, Harrison Old Home Days

Tagged as Dominic Sclafani, Harrison 5K Run by the Lake, Natasha Leighton

July 4, 2019 · 5:41 pm

Ryan Smith wins the 43rd Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Start of the Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Ryan Smith (2019) takes first in the 2019 Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Ryan Smith and second-place finisher Moninda Marube

(Bridgton ME) How did they know?

Racing bibs are handed out randomly for the Bridgton 4 on the Fourth, aren’t they?

Then how did this year’s winner (Ryan Smith) end up with “2019?”

But that’s what happened as Ryan won the 43^rd edition of the Bridgton 4^th…..in 2019.

Ryan (20:16), from Farmington, left the start in a hurry and won easily.

“I took the lead from the front,” Ryan (24) told me afterwards. “There were people behind me for probably the first 1 ½ miles. I heard footsteps. After that I kind of pulled away on the hills.”

Dom Sclafani, who came in 7^th, was one of those chasing Ryan early. “I was with the leader for the first half mile. Then he picked it up a lot.”

That fast start cost Dom later: “My first mile was well under five minutes. I went too fast early. I was looking for 5:10 and I ran 4:55.”

Winner Mary Pardi with race director Bill Graham

Mary Pardi (24:36) had an easy time of it in the women’s division. “I am in really good shape,” the 49-year-old said. “I had the lead from the start. I knew that I needed to stay strong in the second mile because it’s all uphill. The third mile is tough, and the fourth mile is beautiful. My final mile was 5:52.”

Amanda Dearborn (26:10) from Chicago finished second.

Last year’s winner, Moninda Marube, from Auburn (ME) came across second.

Moninda (20:53) had run against Ryan Smith before: “He’s a young guy, full of energy.”

“I did not try to run with him,” Moninda said. “I had a race plan and that is what I stuck with. I did not necessarily come here to win. I came here to reach a target preparing for the Maine Marathon.”

Moninda (41) has won the Bridgton 4^th four times. “I love racing this race,” he smiled. “I love the people. This race is as well run as any I race in.”

“It’s my birthday,” he laughed. “What better place to celebrate it?”

Tim Poitras (5th)

Tim Poitras (Dracut MA) crossed fifth and came about as close as you want to get to not even getting into the race. “I got the last number (2057),” he said smiling. “I found out about the race Tuesday. It was 7:55PM and the entries closed at 8PM. I quickly signed up and got the confirmation at 7:59!”

Tim (graduate of UMass Lowell in 2018)) said that he had always been in the area on the 4^th but never had run the race.

“This is definitely not an easy course,” Tim (21:40) said. “It is well organized, and everyone seems to be having a great time.”

Nick Brown (21:20) from Madison (NH) took third edging Adam Goode (21:24) of Topsham (ME).

Nick runs cross country at UNH and will be a senior.

Adam went to UMaine and is the cross-country coach at Bangor High School. Adam (35) spent four terms as a state representative for a section of Bangor.

Silas Eastman (11th)

Former winner Silas Eastman (24) was in the field. Silas (24) finished 11^th.

“I think it’s my 17^th year in a row being in this race,” the Colby graduate told me. “I love coming here. They said that there were people from every state here today. It’s fun to run with that many people.”

Lack of conditioning has caught up to Silas. “I’m doing a lot less training. Once I got out of college and away from the structure, life got in the way.”

Silas: “Right now I’m working on a crop farm in Fryeburg. I am also an assistant coach with the Fryeburg Academy ski team in the winter. I am working toward starting my own furniture-making business.”

Ryan: “I went to Goshen College (northern Indiana) and graduated two years ago. I’ve done the LL Bean two years in a row (he won both times) and decided to try something different this year. I ran a marathon twelve days ago and wasn’t sure where I’d be today condition-wise. I am planning to run the Beach to Beacon. I am an operations coordinator at a pellet mill in Strong, Maine. I do some accounting and a little bit of everything there.”

Mary Pardi at the start

Mary: “I’m guessing that I’ve done this race five times and finished in the top five each time. It was either this race or the LL Bean 10K. This is a little bit shorter but they’re both hard races. I’ve been home with my kids for a long time. I manage some property that we have. I love the small-town feel of the Bridgton race.”

Tim: “I have a busy schedule of running ahead. I am also looking for a job in the environmental sciences. I am planning to do the Yankee Homecoming race in Newburyport (MA) the end of the month.”

Bill Graham was the race director and did a terrific job.

Race results

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Tim Poitras, Nick Brown, Moninda Marube, Ryan Smith

Ryan Smith breaks through the finish banner

Ryan Smith waits for his award

Ryan Smith right after the race

Nick Brown (3rd) and Adam Goode (4th)

Moninda Marube close to the finish

Moninda Marube finishes

Wearing/Carrying the colors

Runner carrying his running shoes

Bowman Schneider (Camp Owatonna)

Women finishers; Amanda Dearborn (2nd), Laura Pulito (3rd), and Maia Vinhateiro (4th)

Emily Dexter of Belmont (MA)

Dominic Sclafani (7th)

Anthem singer

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Filed under Bridgton, Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Tagged as Adam Goode, Mary Pardi, Moninda Marube, Nick Brown, Ryan Smith, Silas Eastman, Tim Poitras

September 30, 2018 · 9:47 pm

Bridgton Academy races by Norwich JVs 52-6

George Morrice (20) pursued by Victory Wingfield (26) and Jacob Frith (34)

Speedy Jha’mil King scored three times for Bridgton Academy

(Bridgton ME) You can’t teach speed.

Bridgton Academy had plenty of it and sped by the Norwich JV’s on Sunday afternoon, 52-6.

Long gainers were the order of the day for the 2-1-1 Wolverines delighting a large Homecoming gathering.

BA coach Rick Marcella tried to downplay the win a bit afterwards. “They’re a JV program. They don’t get all the reps together we do in practice, so we should have an advantage. Sometimes a team can rise above that but not today.”

Plenty of celebrations for the Wolverines

Jha’mil King (three touchdowns) and George Morrice (two touchdowns) paced Bridgton Academy.

“They were very good,” said Norwich coach Greg Vreeland afterwards. “Twenty-five (Jha’mil King) ran the ball real tough.”

The Cadets (0-2) first two possessions started near their own goal line. “It’s hard to go on 99-yard drives,” said Coach Vreeland.

That bad Norwich field position turned into a safety after a bad snap on a punt attempt from the end zone in the first quarter.

Wigs Crowley had two interceptions

The safety began a steady flow of points for the home team the rest of the game. The Wolverines tallied two TDs in each of the first three quarters and won with ease.

“We’ve got some pretty good athletes,” explained Coach Marcella. “They work hard in practice.”

Defensive back Wigs Crowley had two interceptions for Bridgton. “We were in Cover 3 and I was just in the right place at the right time,” said the DB from Milton (MA). “Our linebackers played good underneath, so the quarterback had to lob the ball over them. I was just sitting there waiting.”

It wasn’t a perfect afternoon, however, for the BA defender. “They scored their touchdown on me. I bit on a screen pass and then couldn’t chase the receiver down.”

“He a very solid college prospect,” said Coach Marcella of Crowley. “I think he has four interceptions this season.”

There were plenty of big plays. “One of the top ones was by George Morrice (29 yards) early in the second quarter on a first-down play,” said Coach Marcella. “He made some nice cuts on that touchdown run.”

Jeff Baldassari, Coach Vreeland, and Caleb Bowen

Preston Buchanan caught a TD pass in the 3^rd quarter and Elijah Nichols zigged and zagged his way to the end zone in the final quarter.

The Cadets lone score was in the third quarter when QB Jeff Baldassari connected with Levi Gosselin. Both players are from Nashua (NH) North.

“We’ll enjoy tonight and then be back to work tomorrow,” said Coach Marcella. “Our next opponent is Navy Prep. Most of their players will play for Navy next year. It will be completely different from today.”

BA plays nine of its ten games on the road. Why? It’s hard to get teams to travel to Bridgton. Most of the varsity teams have games on Saturday which makes travel complicated.

The Bridgton playing field is very nice.

Plenty of get togethers after the game.

Covering games is not always easy. Norwich added to the “excitement” by having players wearing the same numbers. Try identifying pictures when that happens!

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Preston Buchanan caught a touchdown pass

Colin Frary (13) surrounded

Wigs Crowley runs back an interception with Adam Briffett looking to block.

Xzabier Weaver reaches for a pass over Connor Foley 16

Ball on the field

battle in the air

Cam Peach

Elijah Nichols (5) looks for defenders

Four Wolverines after Thomas Meadows

George Morrice (20) runs behind Gavin Viera (4)

Jake O’Donnell 82 and Jha-mil King 25

Jha-mil King stiff-arms Ryan Shea (41)

Levi Gosselin scored a touchdown

Loose ball

Luke Hatch 32 and Patrick Duffy 55

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Filed under Bridgton, Bridgton Academy, Norwich JVs

Tagged as Elijah Nichols, George Morrice, Jeff Baldassari, Jha'mil King, Preston Buchanan, Wigs Crowley

July 4, 2016 · 8:39 pm

Moninda Marube and Kristin Barry win 2016 Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Moninda Marube wins his third Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Kristin Barry (2001) took home her second Bridgton 4 on the Fourth title

(Bridgton ME) Moninda Marube won the Bridgton 4 on the Fourth for the third time in the last four years on a warm Monday July 4^th morning.

Several thousand runners completed the 4-mile course.

In all three wins, Moninda has not been in any kind of competitive danger coming down Main Street.

In the other two wins, Moninda was still tight to the task along Main Street but not today. He was smiling with thumbs up at the Bridgton Library well aware of Jim Johnson (2^nd place finisher) being too far back to catch him.

I had hoped that last year’s winner (Andrew Stewart) would be in the field because if time’s mean anything the race down Main Street would have been close. Maybe next year?

The 40^th anniversary of the race had a special ring to it because previous winners were invited back. Those that attended were given the racing bib number of the year they won the event. Nice touch.

Colin Peddie owns race record at 18:46

Got my first look at race record holder Colin Peddie. The tall gentleman did the course in 18:46 in 1987. Ben True was the closest to that record with an 18:58 in 2009.

I think you will need two very good runners in the race to push each other to a run at that 18:46. Moninda was able to win today’s race with a “leisurely” time of 20:41.

Jim Johnson took second. Jim is from Madison (NH) and has been the New Hampshire Snowshoe’s Champion for the last eight years.

Silas Eastman (2012 winner) was third. Silas was sporting the Colby colors. He is a senior in the fall. His parents were part of a storytelling performance that was at the Brick Church (Lovell) on Friday night.

Evan Turner (850) carries the colors down Main Street

Chris Garvin (4^th) from Charlestown RI was 5^th the last two years.

Nate Richards took fifth. Nate is a senior at Principia College in Illinois. Nate was 3^rd last year. He is currently a counselor at Camp Newfound in Harrison.

19-year-old Jose Rosas of Queen University in Charlotte (NC) ended 6^th. The sophomore’s time was 21:33.

Robert Hollis of UMaine Farmington was 7^th. Robert won this year’s North Atlantic Conference championship in cross country.

Chris Dunn, from Kennebunk, took 8^th. Chris was a senior as Southern Maine this year.

Kevin Tilton (9^th) went to UNH. He was 2^nd in this race in 2004 and 2006. He was 4^th in 2008.

Andy Spaulding is a former winner (2002). He ended 10^th today. He is part of the management of the Dirigo running club.

Former winner Kristin Barry (2001) returned in style to finish first among the women and 31^st overall (24:32).

Leader Kristin Barry (2001)

Erin Flynn had Kristin in her sights coming down Main Street but ended up settling for 2^nd, finishing some eleven seconds after Kristin. Erin won this race in 2009 and 2015.

Anna Laska of Bridgton and Fryeburg Academy was the third woman, finishing 46^th overall.

The race is always fun to attend. The surrounding camps are well represented and some of the counselors are high-quality runners. Plenty of patriotic stuff among the participants. I especially admire those who run and chant down Main Street after running 3+ milein 80-degrees heat. Oh, to be young!

The highly competitiveness in this race ends pretty early after the top runners have gone by. Many of the remaining runners look for familiar faces in the crowd. I did see one young man leave the race, run up the stairs of the Bridgton Library, and plant a kiss on what I hope was a significant other. My camera was not fast enough to catch that action!

RACE RESULTS

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Silas Eastman leads Chris Garvin

Nate Richards (1384) Jose Rosas (2212) Robert Hollis (2216)

Silas Eastman (2012) and Chris Garvin

Jim Johnson

Moninda Marube follows the police car with Jim Johnson in the distance

Anna Laska

Jennifer Smith stops to greet a friend

Kelly Akerley of North Bridgton

The Woods

Jeffrey Lindy of Brookline

Dan Allara of Hamilton-Wenham finished 17th

Mike Brooks with bib Number One

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Filed under Bridgton, Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Tagged as Andy Spaulding, Anna Laska, Chris Dunn, Chris Garvin, Colin Peddie, Jim Johnson, Jose Rosas, Kevin Tilton, Kristin Barry, Moninda Marube, Nate Richards, Robert Hollis, Silas Eastman

September 11, 2015 · 12:40 pm

Justin D’Orlando and Jack Kingdon score in Bridgton Academy’s 2-0 soccer win in opener versus Southern Maine Community College

Bridgton Academy passing was key to win over SMCC. Here Lucca Rodrigues (14) looks to pass to teammate victor Lage (7)

Jack Kingdon lines up his goal

(Bridgton ME) Bridgton Academy opened its 2015 soccer season with a 2-0 win over Southern Maine Community College on Thursday afternoon on BA’s new turf field under cloudy conditions.

The Wolverines (1-0) scored goals midway through each half and used their speed and accurate passing to advantage often.

The Seawolves (1-2-1) from South Portland had few scoring chances but trailing by just a goal through 20+ minutes of the second half they nearly tied it on a shot by DJ Cloutier.

Shortly thereafter Jack Kingdon (Nonnewaug High CT) split two SMCC defenders for a clean look and whizzed a shot past defenseless GK Drew Martin to give BA a 2-goal cushion for the rest of the game. That 2-goal lead looked to be in potential difficulty during the final twenty minutes of the match as the Wolverines played one player short and later two players short due to injuries and an empty bench. Noticeably good passing and unselfishness by BA kept SMCC from capitalizing on their plus numbers.

The Wolverines style of play set up plenty of scoring chances during the even strength portion of the game. Only thing missing was finishing but the longer you watched the better you liked the chances for that to happen.

SMCC was forced to do a lot of chasing and had limited chances to move forward using short passes. The Seawolves used the long ball to set up their scoring chances. BA goalkeeper Andrew Mortarelli had several dangerous shots to deal with but he was able to stand his ground and get the shutout.

BA’s Justin D’Orlando (Masconomet Regional MA) was excellent on defense. At 6’6” he had a head on several lobs that came close to the BA goal.

Justin had a fluke goal (in my opinion) in the first half. He was set up for a direct kick close to the left sideline about 25 yards out. SMCC had a 3-man wall in place but it didn’t have the entire goal covered. Justin kicked a hard grounder past the wall. Defender DJ Cloutier just missed intercepting the ball and Justin’s grounder rolled into the far corner past GK Drew Martin. How often does a direct-kick grounder get into the goal untouched?

Justin D’Orlando lines up direct kick that became first BA goal

Ball goes past wall

Ball continues untouched

Ball slides by GK Drew Martin into corner as Luis Felipe Delaye (8) looks for rebound

I was impressed with SMCC defender Hughes Bakunda. He was tireless with a strong foot.

Hughes Bukunda shields the ball from Nathaniel Campbell

The Wolverines weren’t shy about pressing the attack and were disciplined enough to never be called for an offsides.

SMCC’s next game will be at home on Sunday against UMaine-Machias. On the same day BA is in Newark, New Jersey playing St. Benedict’s Prep.

The new turf field is real nice. The fast surface certainly showcased the speed of Bridgton Academy.

Surprised that BA had no one available to chase balls that left the field. That arrangement was certainly an advantage for the home team in the lead and the game ball rolling into the woods. Solution? Either have people chasing the balls or have twice as many soccer balls available.

A baseball game was going on at the same time.

Why is this report so late? I attempted to put this story with pictures together while watching the Patriots. The Patriots won but the timeliness of this story lost.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Jack Kingdon celebrates goal

Sean Jackson

Victor Lage

Justin D’Orlando

postgame

Bridgton Academy goalkeeper Andrew Mortarelli

DJ Cloutier gets some advice

Jack Kingdon fires a shot (wide)

Seawolves defense as Noah Medeiros kicks a corner kick

GK Andrew Mortarelli (orange) slides to block shot

Justin D’Orlando (21) skies to clear corner kick

Brandon Ford

Justin Kingdon puts a move on Jacob Coffey

Noah Medeiros leaps to get by SMCC defender Jacob Cavacas

Noah Medeiros (4) looks to pass

Drew Martin saves in traffic

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Filed under Bridgton, Bridgton Academy, Southern Maine Community College

Tagged as Andrew Mortarelli, Bridgton Academy, Drew Martin, Hughes Bukunda, Jack Kingdon, Justin D'Orlando, Noah Medeiros, Southern Maine Community College

July 5, 2014 · 5:57 pm

Marube and Pfitzinger win 38th Bridgton 4 on the Fourth

Moninda Marube of Auburn, Maine wins easily for the second straight year

Annika Pfitzinger of Auckland, New Zealand won the female title finishing 7th overall

Tony Bumatay: One of many runners showing the US colors

(Bridgton ME) Moninda Marube made it look easy for the second straight Bridgton 4 on the Fourth.

The Auburn (Maine) resident, formerly of Kenya, finished the course in 20:29 which was actually four seconds slower than last year’s winning time.

Moninda ran down Main Street without a challenger in sight. I am guessing that the 35-year-old could run closer to the course record (18:46) if someone pushed him. There was no one capable of doing it last year or this year. Maybe next year?

The temperatures were in the sixties with occasional drizzle. There was a rumble of thunder about forty minutes after the race started that got everyone’s attention.

Annika Pfitzinger of Auckland, New Zealand ran away with the woman’s title defeating runner-up Jenna Willett by over two minutes.

The battle for second: Matthew Methot (20400), Silas Eastman (71), and Robert Hall (2039)

The Bridgton race seems, in my opinion, to annually attract a ringer or two. Annika fits that category this time around. The 21-year-old finished second in the national cross country championship in New Zealand last year. Both of her parents are former Olympians. Annika was seventh overall (22:32) in the 38th running of this race.

I like to watch the start of this race and then move to the Magic Lantern area to catch the Main Street section down to Renys.

The race of the day was for second in the men’s division between Matthew Methot, Silas Eastman, and Robert Hall. Matthew (Maine Maritime Academy grad) went past me with a five-yard lead over the other two and I thought that he looked strong enough to hold onto second place. But it didn’t work out that way. Silas (Colby freshman) caught Matthew and took second by three seconds. Robert (Syracuse freshman) ended up seven seconds back in 4th place.

Silas won the race two years ago and then last year was a disappointing 7th. This year he improved his time by over a minute to get second place.

Chris Garvin

Chris Garvin of Charlestown (RI) took 5th with a career best 21:53. Chris was 12th last year.

Nate Richards (6th) is a counselor at Camp Newfound. The 19-year-old took a minute off of last year’s 14th place finish. He is attending Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.

Annika Pfitzinger (21) was 7th. She reacted to a group of well-wishers in front of the Bridgton Library.

Eric Rudolph from Augusta took the eighth spot. Eric (30) is a graduate of Unity College. He was a cross country academic All-American there.

Ian Lanza (9th place) is a doctor from Rochester, Minnesota. Ian (37) ran at UNH and did graduate work at UMass Amherst.

Ben Tanoff finished two seconds behind Ian in 10th place. Ben (21) is a counselor at Camp Indian Acres in Fryeburg. He ran for Kenyon College in Ohio.

Jenna Willett: second female

Youngster Nicholas Brown (16) finished off the top ten males in the race. Nicholas is from Madison (Maine) and runs for the Granite State Flash.

Jenna Willett from Denmark (Maine) was the second female (23rd overall). The Kenyon College grad was second last year as well.

Newcomer, to me, Erin Flynn from Newton (Massachusetts) was the third female finisher.

Robert Hall (4th place finisher) was part of Scarborough’s state championship outdoor track team in 2013. Robert won the 1600 meter at that event.

Weather? I thought it was terrific for the runners. Cooler than it had been with no sun. The off-and-on drizzle probably felt good to the participants. My camera wasn’t thrilled, however!

One improvement I liked was not having any cars parked on Main Street. I also liked the idea of keeping the runners on the right hand side of Main Street.

Truck adds some excitement to the wait for the runners to appear

If you’re looking for excitement you’re sure to get it while waiting for the runners to finally pop onto Main Street. Every year, without fail, some driver will try to become part of the race. This year two drivers entered the “what-could-go-wrong” zone in the last minutes before the runners appeared.

The first one pulled out of the Big A planning on heading toward Reny’s. He was stopped in a hurry but opted to converse with a race staff member about why he needed to continue the way he was going. He was finally convinced to turn around which seemed to take forever.

The other driver came out of the side street across from the Big A driving a truck. He headed up Main Street toward the spot where the runners get onto Main Street. No one stopped him and he went up the hill toward the monument literally seconds before the runners showed up. That one could have been ugly!

National Anthem

I commend the race staff for their overall organization. The same folks appear to be in charge every year and they know what they’re doing.

Always impressive at the 4 on the Fourth is the patriotic garb. The participating camps really seem to take it on. In a world where things are anything but rosy, you sense optimism about this country among the younger set.

Official race results

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)

Brian Ladd

Austin Osborn

Ricky Lipsey

Benjamin Chaine and Kristen Huntress

Alex Youngblood

Bill Wood

Nate Richards (6th)

Eric Rudolph (8th)

Ian Lanza (9th)

Ben Tanoff (10th)

Nicholas Brown (11th)

Isabella Rocamboli

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Tagged as Annika Pfitzinger, Ben Tanoff, Chris Garvin, Eric Rudolph, Ian Lanza, Jenna Willett, Matthew Methot, Moninda Marube, Nate Richards, Nicholas Brown, Robert Hall, Silas Eastman

July 4, 2011 · 9:44 pm

Jonny Wilson Wins 35th 4 on the 4th Road Race in Bridgton

Jonny Wilson on his way to winning the 35th 4 on the 4th.

Chris Harmon (#1924), Richard Klauber (#1625), and Jonny Wilson (#1516) at the start.

(Bridgton ME) Jonny Wilson from Falmouth (ME) and the University of Richmond won the 35th 4 on the 4th road race on Monday morning at Bridgton in 20:19.

A record-setting 1849 runners finished the race on an overcast morning with temperatures close to 70 degrees at the muggy 8AM start. In typical Maine weather fashion, the temperatures rose into the 80s by early afternoon before a rowdy thunder/lightning storm appeared in mid-afternoon only to be followed by very pleasant temps in the upper 70s later in the afternoon. The good news was that the warm weather and the showers didn’t show up until after the race was over.

The first five finishers (Jonny Wilson, Richard Klauber, Christopher Harmon, John Vallo, and Sean Livingston) ran from the turn onto Main Street past The Magic Lantern with comfortable cushions between each other.

Jonny’s lead was a little difficult to gauge because the police escort came down part of the hill before turning off. Once the escort left it was clear that Jonny (red shirt senior on this year’s Spider track team) was not going to be caught by Richard Klauber. Last year’s winner, Phil Richert (19:58), was past The Magic Lantern before another runner appeared at the top of the hill.

Pickles Lajoie in 6th with plenty of competition closing fast.

The final positioning for places 6-11 (Pickles Lajoie, Silas Eastman, Tim Even, Erica Jesseman, Pete Bottomley, and John Barbour) was settled after the Magic Lantern. Pickles had 6th going past me but had to run for his life after Reny’s to keep that spot.

Tim Even made up at least three spots after he passed by me.

My wife and I always are on hand at the start to make our winner selections. She had Phil Richert last year! This time she went with Richard Klauber who finished second. I went with Tim Even. He finished fifth last year but this time lost contact with the top five and had to sprint in the last hundred yards to get 8th.

John Vallo (4th), Pickles Lajoie (6th), and Tim Even (8th) all were connected to the University of Southern Maine’s track team this past season.

Christopher Harmon (3rd) was a senior at Maine this year and part of their track program.

Sean Livingston (5th) won this race in 2005 and 2006. The 42-year-old from Barrington, Rhode Island coaches cross country at Roger Williams University in Bristol (RI).

Silas Eastman with Erica Jesseman gaining ground on the left.

Silas Eastman (7th) is only 16. He was 6th last year and 7th the year before as a 14-year-old. He’ll be a senior at nearby Fryeburg Academy in the fall.

Erica Jesseman (9th) was the top woman finisher this year, last year, and in 2006. The former UNH runner dropped nearly a minute off her time (23:06) last year to this year (22:10).

Pete Bottomley (10th) finished ninth last year. The 49-year-old started running as a senior at Oxford (ME) Hills and then went on to make the cross country team at Maine.

John Barbour (11th) is a 57-year-old who qualified in 1988 and 1996 for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Recently he started an indoor track team at Manchester-Essex High school in Manchester, Massachusetts. He lives in Gloucester (MA).

Kristin Barry was top Maine woman runner at 2010 Beach to the Beacon 10K

Kristin Barry (12th) helped run the Cheverus track program this school year. She is 37 and the mother of two. She was a very successful runner at Dartmouth before going to Georgetown to become a lawyer. Last year she was the 10th woman finisher at the Beach to Beacon 10K and the first female Mainer to cross the finish line.

I am not a professional photographer but like the proverbial blind squirrel I do happen into an acorn occasionally! I do not charge for any of the pictures you see in this entry. I will send pictures via email to anyone interested. My email address is in the CONTACT at the top of the blog page.

(Any of my statistical information and caption information is unofficial.)

Henry Osborn (11)

Mark O'Horo (7)

Tim Even

Tim Even and John Barbour

Pete Bottomley (right)

Erica Jesseman

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Tagged as Beach to Beacon 10K, Christopher Harmon, Dartmouth, Erica Jesseman, Fryeburg Academy, John Barbour, John Vallo, Jonny Wilson, Kristin Barry, Manchester-Essex High School, Pete Bottomley, Phil Richert, Pickles Lajoie, Richard Klauber, Roger Williams cross country, Sean Livingston, Silas Eastman, Tim Even, University of Southern Maine

October 25, 2007 · 10:50 pm

Age Distrusted, Experience Underestimated

After reading the October 18th issue of The Bridgton News I’m thinking this if your last name starts with “T” and you’ve been on the job for a while it is clearly time to take note.

Out the door locally in recent days have gone Bridgton police officer Doug Taft and Harrison town manager Mike Thorne. Expanding nationally we can add Yankee manager Joe Torre to the unemployed lot. Let’s face it, if each of them were to take off their shirts we would still see the marks of the handprints on their backs providing visual evidence of how they were “helped” to find the exit.

It can happen to any of us I suppose. Consider the senior citizen bumper sticker that states, “I was taught to respect my elders but there are none of them left.” In this day, the chances of getting respect because of advanced age and/or extensive experience are vanishing.

I believe that it is important to remember that everything in life is terminal. No question in my mind that each of these three men knew at the outset of employment that there would be an ending. The unfortunate surprise for each of these men was that they weren’t able to choose the ending time – others forced the decision.

What makes me unhappy about what has happened is that those doing the forcing were younger than the victims are and certainly much less experienced.

I read of the impact of the local twosome in The Bridgton News and I quickly sensed how important they were to their respective communities.

I overheard someone in the Market Basket in Harrison say this week about Mike Thorne, “They ran him out of town. Now they’ll find out what he did.”

Sgt Taft’s contributions on and off duty in Bridgton have been well documented over the past few weeks. No way that the, “let’s-bring-everything-up-to-the-21st-century,” crowd managing the Bridgton police department will be able to quickly replace a person of Sgt. Taft’s stature.

I look at Joe Torre’s exit with a lot less sympathy. As a Red Sox fan I am pleased to see Joe Torre forced out because I’m quite sure that the resulting turmoil will keep the Yankees where I want them to be – behind Boston in the standings and struggling to make the playoffs. No surprise that George Steinbrenner’s two sons, Hank (50) and Hal (38), who are now in charge of the Yankees, masterminded Joe’s exit. It is just one more example of youth and inexperience messing things up.

I suspect that the forced exits of Doug Taft, Mike Thorne, and Joe Torre will lead to lingering divisions, especially over the two local guys involved. No question that the wounds won’t heal very quickly from any of these cases.

I read somewhere that God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we would listen twice as much as we speak. Too bad the decision makers forcing the ousters of Doug Taft, Mike Thorne, and Joe Torre got it backwards.

( Appeared in the Bridgton News – October 25, 2007 )

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Tagged as Bridgton, Bridgton News, Harrison, Joe Torre, Mike Thorne