Portland’s Benjamin Prestes, left, Mt. Blue’s Henri McCourt and Messalonskee’s Pierce Coughlin run in the Class A cross country championship race last season at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Even in a shortened preseason meet, this might have been a taste of what’s to come in central Maine cross country this fall.

Runners from 15 schools, mostly local ones, came to Cony on Friday to compete in the Laliberte Invitational. There, it would be four runners from local schools who led the way: Mt. Blue’s Henri and Nora McCourt and Messalonskee’s Beckett Cote and Pierce Coughlin.

It’s likely to be far from the last time those runners shine this season. After strong seasons a year ago, they’re back among the best of the best in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference in 2024 and primed for big things as the first regular-season meets approach.

Mt. Blue’s McCourt twins are known entities at this point, both as runners and some of the state’s best Nordic skiers. They showed their running prowess Friday with Henri winning the boys race in 13 minutes, 46.69 seconds and Nora taking the girls crown in 17:00.38.

It was, perhaps, to be expected. Henri McCourt was the top central Maine runner at both Class A Northern Maines and states, finishing fourth (16:56.69) and 11th (16:48.73), respectively. Nora, meanwhile, is the top returning girls runner in KVAC A after taking fourth in that meet last season.

“I coach them in track also, and they’re just fun to coach and unique individuals,” said Mt. Blue head coach Kelley Cullenberg. “They’re not just great runners; they’re great leaders, and they do a great job of pulling the team together. It’s really awesome to have kids like that on the team.”

Mt. Blue’s Lily Jackson runs in the Laliberte Invitational cross country meet Friday at Cony High School in Augusta. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

On the boys side, Henri McCourt was one of five Mt. Blue runners to finish in the top 20 of Friday’s race. Luke Doscinski and Ben Hatch were 11th and 12th with times of 15:06.80. Noah Civiello was 17th with a time of 15:38.67, and Eli Hoeft, one of the boys team’s captains along with McCourt, was 19th in 15:53.30.

“I’ve been really impressed with Noah,” Cullenberg said. “He’s really learned to tap into the pace of running about halfway through the year. He had one standout race where he finished way faster than we thought he was going to, and I went, ‘Holy mackerel; is that Noah?’ Since then, he’s been running with the top group.”

For the Mt. Blue girls, Elizabeth Strickland, who placed 33rd in KVAC A with a time of 24:59.7 last year to place in the top half of the field is the top returning runner behind Nora McCourt. Nora and Brielle Tinker, 35th in KVAC A (25:02.8) and the Cougars’ No. 2 Laliberte runner (21:39.10), are co-captains.

In Laliberte runner-up Cote (13:48.11) and third-place Coughlin (13:48.59), the Messalonskee boys have the KVAC’s top duo anywhere. Those two also shined last year with Coughlin placing second in KVAC A with a time of 17:05.8 and Cote claiming 12th with a time of 17:52.2

Noah Oliver (15th, 15:24.95), Lex Cote (16th, 15:25.21) and Evan Crockett (18th, 15:51.60) also placed in the top 20 Saturday for the Messalonskee boys team, which won with 54 points to Mt. Blue’s 60. On the girls side, co-coaches Neil Amalfitano and Peyton Arbour like Ryleigh Coughlin to have a strong season.

“With cross country, I think it can be hard to find a group of kids who all will show up every day, not complain at all and want to do well,” Arbour said. “They do everything we ask, and they want to get better. … They stay on task, and they work really hard. I’m really proud of them.”

In Class B, Cony returns its top-two girls runners in Loralie Grady and Annabelle Orth. Grady was the No. 3 girl in the Laliberte with a time of 18:42.80 and fourth in Class B North at 21:42.51, while Orth, who did not race Saturday, took 26th in KVAC B with a time of 24:36.5.

The Cony boys, meanwhile, have some retooling to do after losing their top-six runners from 2023. Connor Poirier enters as the Rams’ most experienced runner, but head coach Shawn Totman also has hopes for newcomers Luke Lajoie, Riley Mooney, Miguel Aguirre and Artem Harhatyih.

“I like where we are overall,” Totman said. “I was a little nervous the first day when we only had four girls, but we’re up to seven now. I’d certainly like to have more, but our numbers are good. The biggest thing you look for is the quality, and we’ve really got some high-quality kids.”

Cony’s rival, Gardiner, returns much of its roster for a year ago. Cole Lavigne (16:50.25) finished 36th overall for the Gardiner boys, while Dylan Anderson (17:42.15) and Samuel Renda (17:49.26) were 48th and 50th, respectively. Natalie Grant (20:53.65) leads the way for the Gardiner girls.

Waterville, meanwhile, returns six of its seven boys from last year with Sam Withers, who was 35th in the Laliberte (16:49.62) and 24th in KVAC B (20:31.3), leading the way. The Waterville girls bring back two of their top three from last season in Penny Graham and Greta Limberger. 

“We’ve got all of our junior boys back, and they’re all duking it out for that spot coming in right behind Sam,” said Waterville head coach Ted Brown. “I think what we’re going to have is a strong middle, and a couple from that will emerge and challenge for the top-10 spots in the conference.”

The Nokomis girls team returns a strong runner in Hallie Coots, who placed seventh in Class B North last season with a time of 22:10.58. Eli Jakubisn, who was the B North runner-up (17:36.35) and placed sixth in KVAC B (18:21.2) for the Warriors, returns to lead the boys.

Erskine’s Aiden Brann runs toward the finish line in the Laliberte Invitational cross country meet Friday at Cony High School in Augusta. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Elsewhere in Class B, Lawrence returns Paige Goodwin, who took ninth in KVAC B (21:56.1) and fifth in B North (21:43.15). Addison Pellerin (11th in B North, 22:37.03) returns for the Winslow girls, while Ethan Rancourt, who was 24th with a 16:11.56 in the Laliberte, is back for the boys.

In the Class C ranks, the Madison girls are a team to watch this fall. The Bulldogs have the No. 1 and No. 2 returning runners in the Mountain Valley Conference in Leah Harper (second last year; 22:18.9) and Bryanna Hagopian (third, 22:24.1; fifth in Class C South, 22:12.04).

Although Winthrop won the MVC boys team title last year, there’s rebuilding to be done this year for the Ramblers without any of their top-four runners from 2023. Yet Winthrop does have a promising newcomer in Alfie Cognata, younger brother of James Cognata, an ex-standout runner at the school.

Winthrop has lost the reigning MVC champion in Haley Williams, but head coach Ed Van Tassel does bring back the conference’s No. 5 runner, Grace Drown (23:19.5). Like the boys squad, there’s inexperience elsewhere among the girls, but Van Tassel likes his Ramblers’ enthusiasm.

“We’ve graduated a lot, but we’re going to take the same approach we have every year, which is that we’re going to focus on the process and focus on improving,” Van Tassel said. “The beauty of cross country is that you can set those individual goals and see how you progress over the course of the season.”

Carrabec’s Desmond Robinson (second in MVCs, 18:52.4) and Richmond’s Ben Fournier (fourth, 19:01.0) are the conference’s top returning boys runners. After Madison’s Harper and Hagopian and Winthrop’s Drown, Oak Hill has the next-best local MVC runner in Abigail Gervais (10th, 23:57.2).