BELFAST, Maine — Charlie Collins of Hampden Academy entered Saturday’s Festival of Champions meet with the mindset that it was just another regular season race.
While it wasn’t a championship meet like the regional or state meets, the Festival of Champions carries its own gravitas.
So when Collins found himself with the lead early — then with a bigger lead with a mile to go — he went for it.
Collins won the boys’ seeded race with a time of 15:38, more than 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Nathan Blades of Portland (15:49). The Broncos had five finishers in the top 46 to run away with the team title.
“Usually for races that aren’t championship races, we consider this a regular season meet so we go into it just wanting to build our team aspect and improve our times,” Collins said. “We aren’t going all-out, it’s controlled. I wanted to win, run a fast time but if I don’t it’s whatever.”
About a mile in, Blades fell back a bit behind Collins. Collins started to increase that lead throughout the race.
“Nathan was on me the whole time,” Collins said. “At about a mile and a half he fell behind me a bit. Through the woods into the second mile he fell off about 10 seconds and I was hoping it would stay that distance because he’s a phenomenal runner. He gave me a great race.”
Collins was alone at the finish line and was the first Hampden Academy finisher.
“We would have been happy with a top-five for the boys because we are focused on the end of the season but this was a surprise,” Hampden coach Danielle Johnson said of winning the team title. “It was so rewarding to see that as a coach and see the joy on their faces. The win wasn’t expected.”
Garrett Dailey of Burrillville, Rhode Island, finished in third place with a time of 15:52. In fourth place was William Hileman of Bucksport (15:54), followed by Leavitt’s Logan Ouellette (16:10).
Harrison Shain, 11th, was the second Hampden finisher with a time of 16:34.
“Winning this boosts my confidence and I think my team tagged along a bit and had great performances for themselves,” Collins said.
After Hampden (116) was Portland in second place with 143 points, followed by Brunswick (204), Scarborough (297) and Camden Hills (306) to round out the top five team performances.
