Administrators at Mahoney Middle School in South Portland are investigating whether students there were responsible for trip wire stretched across a cross-country race course at Hinckley Park last week.

The fishing line stretched across the course was discovered by the Windham girls and boys cross-country coach before it injured any of the runners competing in the Sept. 27 race between Windham Middle School and the South Portland’s Mahoney Middle School.

The coach, Paula Pock, ran into it as she was running the course backwards, as she always does, to meet the girls halfway during their race and cheer them on.

“I was struck in the chest below the collar bone,” said Pock, who said several South Portland students were standing nearby, laughing.

Pock said the line would have struck a sixth-grader in the neck. She said she detained a few of the laughing students and had the police called on them. Pock said she couldn’t be certain the line would have hit Windham runners, but Windham has the fastest girls, so it was very likely.

“After the race, girls were crying,” said Pock, who said runners told her they were being shot by air guns and verbally and physically antagonized during the race.

“Fortunately, no one was injured,” said Stephen Merrill, athletic director at Windham High School. He said it was unclear whether it was a small group or large group of kids trying to interrupt the race. Merrill said he understood it to be South Portland students, and he had sent what information he had to administrators at Mahoney Middle School.

Detective Sgt. Steven Webster of the South Portland police said that police had turned the matter over to the middle school.

“We are in the middle of a disciplinary investigation,” said Mahoney Principal Kathryn Germani, who declined to comment further.

Mahoney cross-country coach Mike Towle did not return calls seeking comment for this story.

The Mahoney varsity, seventh- and eigth-grade, and junior varsity, sixth-grade, girls won their races, while the Windham boys won their varsity and junior varsity races.