BELFAST — The course was muddy and slippery and it rained off and on, but none of that kept the Mount Desert Island Trojan girls from a convincing win in Saturday’s Maine Festival of Champions.

In the seeded race, the Trojans showed the same tight pack they’ve demonstrated all season long as their top five runners finished in a span of just 78 seconds, giving them 104 points.

That was a 65-point edge over the runner-up Camden Hills Windjammers.

MDI bested 35 other Maine high school teams — of all classes — and four teams from outside the state in what is annually the largest cross-country event in Maine with 1,100 runners representing 60 schools in all.

And they won even though their top runner, sophomore Maggie Painter, finished out of the top 10, placing 11th with a time of 20:23.20 over the five-kilometer course.

Sophomore Aleta Looker of the Ellsworth Eagles had the best time of any Eastern Maine runner, placing fifth in the seeded competition in 19:38.75.

Senior Abbey Leonardi of Kennebunk High School left no doubt that she’s likely headed for another Class A state title, running away from the rest of the field in 18:16.55 for her third Festival of Champions title in four years.

But the Trojan girls had all five runners across the finish line before another team had more than two.

Behind Painter came sophomore Nora Hubbell, 17th in 21:00.03; sophomore Olivia Erickson, 18th in 21:02.17; sophomore Isabel Erickson, 22nd in 21:12.92; junior Malia Demers, 30th in 21:41.88; junior Rachael McMinnimy, 61st in 22:41.02; sophomore Rebecca Planchart, 96th in 23:31.79; and junior Dominique Hessert, 145th in 25:45.78.

MDI’s Caroline Driscoll also placed fourth in the freshman race with a time of 21:32.14, ranking her 31st overall for the day.

For Ellsworth, behind Looker in the seeded race, were senior Mallory Nightingale, 98th in 23:33.24; senior Jamie Ford, 116th in 24:11.08; and junior Brooke Dunn, 130th in 24:45.89.

In team competition, the Eagles were 22nd.

In the boys’ seeded competition, senior Matthew McClintock entered the meet as the top seed and lived up to expectations, winning in 16:08.07.

Sophomore Dan Curts of the Ellsworth Eagles was the first Eastern Maine runner to finish in the field of 185, placing sixth in 16:44.96.

Finishing behind Curts for Ellsworth were junior Kody Holmes, 80th in 18:57.42; sophomore Brayden Beardsley, 88th in 19:01.59; sophomore Robert Looker, 97th in 19:07.83; sophomore Frank King, 119th in 19:28.06; senior Stephen Kirby, 127th in 19:34.50; senior Blake Pattengale, 132nd in 19:36.99; senior Evan Boudreau, 134th in 19:37.23; and sophomore Patrick McKay, 152nd in 19:57.20.

Also in the seeded race for the Sumner Tigers, senior Taylor Lee was 72nd in 18:49.47 and junior Brandon Wade was 138th in 19:41.09.

In the boys’ freshman race, William Fletcher of the MDI Trojans finished third in the field of 165 runners with a time of 17:57.94, the best time of the day for any Hancock County boy except Curts.

In team competition, Ellsworth was 15th, MDI was 35th, Sumner was 42nd and Bucksport was 50th.

For more sports news, pick up a copy of the Mount Desert Islander.