Portland Cross Country Harriers Open Season at DeWitt

The Raider Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams traveled to the St. Francis Retreat Center on Tuesday to open their 2020 season. First year Head Coach, Ariel Davids and assistant Collette Cloutier (both PHS English teachers) were enthusiastic in their new roles. Davids, graduated from Portland in 2014, and ran Cross Country for the Raiders while in high school.

Coach Davids told the Beacon after the race that she was very pleased with her team's performance, "With a summer of uncertainty, the Portland Boys' Cross-Country team set out to the St. Francis Retreat Center for the Cougar 2-Mile and left every bit of heart and soul out on the course. The boys went the summer with little to no direction but did what they could with their own training. Carter Rosier, a senior, wasn't going to let anything get in the way of starting out his senior year. Running a strong and confident race, Carter achieved his ultimate PR (personal record) in his Cross Country career at PHS, an 11:41.5 2-mile."

In another heat, Ben Wassmus (Jr.) and Devin Spitzley (Fr.) led the Raiders pushing each other all the way to the finish line with times of 15:11.0 (Ben) and 15:11.9 (Devin). Following close behind were Matthew Seavey (Fr.) with a 16:47.5 and Austin Schneider (Soph.) with a 17:12.7. Davids said, "Brycen DeShane, who is new to Portland, ran his first race ever and did such an amazing job."

Davids concluded, "Ultimately, the Raiders could not have done better than they did today and as a new (and extremely optimistic) coach I could not be more proud of these boys. They ran their hearts out and were extremely successful."

The Raiders Boys and Girls return to action next Wednesday.