LEWISTON — Osman Doorow found competing against cross country runners an enjoyable way to make new friends — and pass them in grueling foot races on rugged trails across the state.

Doorow’s soft-spoken demeanor is genuine, but when he hears the loud pop of a starter’s pistol, he is all business, and he runs like a strong gust of wind on a blustery day.

“Running is really fun,” Doorow, who is now a Class A state champion, said. “Run with some other guys and I never know them … and when I was a sophomore, I was still running with them and we know each other right now.

“I started running my sophomore year when I was in high school. I didn’t know that they had a tournament. I was running at Bates College and then my friends come over they say, ‘Why don’t you do cross country?’ I was like, ‘Sure.’”

When he learned college scholarships are available to talented athletes, joining the cross country team was an easy sell for Doorow, who is also the conference and regional champion. His time of 16:17.71 gave him the state championship and could provide him a promising future as a college athlete.

“He had a great season. I think he proved himself to be the greatest cross country runner in Lewiston’s history,” Lewiston cross country coach Kim Wettlaufer said. “The other guy that would rank with that would be, well, you’ve got Mohamed Noor and Pat Mulready.

“I think he was unbeaten as was Pat, and I wasn’t coaching Mohamed, I don’t know if he went unbeaten, but his times have been faster than Mohamed’s.

“The closest anybody came to him was 15 seconds, and that was at the Festival of Champions. He ran 15:40 on that Belfast course, which was smokin’, and he was winning by a lot.”

There was one big reason Wettlaufer wanted the senior long-distance runner to bring home a state title for himself

“He had been runner-up four times,” Wettlaufer said. “He had been runner-up in the 1,600 outdoors his sophomore year. He was a runner-up in the mile indoors, he was runner-up in the 1,600 outdoors and runner-up in the 3,200. So he got four near-misses and now it is his chance to win.”

Wettlaufer can’t say enough about Doorow’s exploits as a cross country runner, but the Lewiston coach is equally impressed with the senior’s devotion to his team.

“He is so competitive and so driven to succeed. It is a pleasure,” Wettlaufer said. “A lot these kids we have here are like that. He is very quiet, but I think he leads by example. The other kids watch him and they want to be like him. It is an honor to be called his coach.”

All-Region Teams

They drove, ran, kicked, passed, shot and scored. And they did it better than anyone else.

Meet the Fall 2015 Sun Journal All Region Teams, led by the seven athletes of the year in their respective sports.

2015 Sun Journal All-Region Boys’ Cross Country Team