Wiscasset High School’s cross country team will open its season Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Winthrop.

Eva Castor is taking over as the Wolverines coach. Castor is starting her sixth year at WHS. She teaches French. This is her first head coaching position although she helped with the track and field this past spring. She’s replacing veteran coach Warren Cossette who could no longer coach the team due to a scheduling conflict.

Castor has eight runners to work with, six boys and two girls.

Amanda Marcus, a senior, is returning for her fourth year. Joining her is Amanda Johnson, also a senior. Both athletes are looking forward to the first meet and have been training hard under Coach Castor. Because it takes five runners to compete as a team, they will run as individuals.

Brandon Goud, Sam Storer and Angus Putnam, three names you’ll recognize from the Wolverines track team, are giving cross country a go. Goud, a junior, ran the 800 and 3200 meter races. Storer, a senior, was a sprinter. Goud and Storer are also playing varsity soccer having declared it as their primary sport. This means if there’s a scheduling conflict, they’ll go with the Wolverine soccer team, but otherwise they’ll be running for Coach Castor.

Putnam, a sophomore, is returning for his second season on the cross country team. He ran competitively in the 3200 meter race this past spring and could be poised for a possible breakout season this fall for the Wolverines.

Sam Whitney, Kobe Carrier and Adam Treannie round out the team. These guys will need to run well if the Wolverines are to be competitive.

If you’re hoping to see the Wolverines compete, the nearest venue will be at Boothbay Region High School. The meet there begins at 4:15 on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and if the schedule is correct includes Lisbon, Monmouth, Hall-Dale, and St. Dom’s.

WHS has no home meets scheduled because the school no longer has a cross country course.

The standard cross country course is roughly 5k, about 3.1 miles. The winner of the race receives one point, the second place runner gets two points, the third place runner  three points and so on. The points of top five runners on each team are added up and the team with the lowest point total wins the meet. Having one of your team members win a race doesn’t mean your school wins the meet. The outcome usually comes down to the third, fourth and fifth runners and in what place they cross the finish line.

The best possible score in cross country is 15 points, a sweep of the top five finishers. Times are kept in minutes, seconds and tenths of a second.

Other meets will be held at St. Dom’s and Lisbon High School. The Mountain Valley Conference Championship meet is scheduled for Oct. 16 at the University of Maine Augusta.