The sight of several Tide runners at the front of the pack of the Capital Area Cross Country Championship wasn’t surprising, but it was still special.
The Concord boys’ victory, led by Forest Mackenzie’s course-record time of 16 minutes, 10 seconds wrapped up an undefeated regular season against New Hampshire competition heading into the Division I championship on Oct. 28.
Mackenzie and Eli Boesch-Dining (16:13), both juniors, pulled away from the lead pack halfway through the race and gave the Tide a 1-2 finish. Concord’s score of 18 points (just three points shy of a perfect mark) bested Kearsarge (83), St. Paul’s (123), Merrimack Valley (129), Bow (150) and the rest of the 16-team field.
Aside from defending its Capital Area title, the race showed Concord Head Coach Tristan Black-Ingersoll his squad is prepared for championship season.
“I think the most telling thing is that our first two runners were within (three) seconds of each other,” Black-Ingersoll said, adding that runner-up Boesch-Dining also nearly broke the previous course record of 16:12.
“That’s an excellent sign of fitness, preparedness moving forward,” Black-Ingersoll said. “There were a number of years we weren’t even competitive to win the meet. We’ve had improvements in not just quality, but quantity of runners. We have a large number of people performing well.”
Mackenzie attributes another factor to Concord’s success: the coach.
“We knew, because of our training, we could bounce back way quicker after that big hill (in the second mile of the course),” said Mackenzie, referring to his move with Boesch-Dining in the second mile. “We thought if we made a move there, it would the most effective move for the entire race. I attribute 99 percent to our coach. We have one of the best coaches in the country. He’s turned what was a mediocre team to a New England-caliber, and hopefully New England champion, team.”
The rest of Concord’s lineup – senior Ollie Spencer (fourth, 16:41), senior Matt O’Brien (sixth, 16:53), sophomore David Cook (seventh, 17:17), junior Shane Riley (21st, 18:20) and senior Curtis Comrie (24th, 18:26) – all finished in the top 25.
And that’s not even Concord at full strength. The Tide claimed the top-six spots in the JV race, opting to rest some normal varsity runners and to determine the final roster spots for the Division I championship.
“It’s not just seniors. We have people in all class years running under 16:30,” Black-Ingersoll said. “That’s a really good sign that this is happening because of the way we are preparing. It’s not just a flash in a pan. I expect to come back strong next year.”
Freshman Morgane Orcutt (fourth, 20:18) and senior Molly Bragg (sixth, 20:46) led the Concord girls to a sixth straight Capital Area title. Concord has won 25 out of 41 editions of this meet.
The Tide’s 56 points topped Hopkinton (80), Belmont (112), Kearsarge (114), Merrimack Valley (146), Bow (147) and the rest of the 12-team field.
Freshman Hannah Willette (12th, 21:36), junior Hannah Barton (16th, 21:58), junior Sarah Zarakotas (20th, 22:11), sophomore Serena Britos (22nd, 22:14) and senior Kat Jepson (30th, 23:01) rounded out the Tide’s team.
“I’m really proud of them,” Concord Head Coach Ally Davis said. “We haven’t been considered a top contender in Division I, but it was really great to get to win the Capital Area. I’m pretty excited for them.”
Davis highlighted the performance of Britos.
“She really stepped up for us when we needed her,” the coach said. “She ran phenomenally for us.”
Kearsarge’s Mya Dube won the girls’ race in 19:58, besting D-III rivals Alice Riley of Belmont (second, 20:01) and Maya Weil-Cooley of Inter-Lakes (third, 20:08), in what could have been a preview of the D-III championship.
Orcutt was a few steps ahead of Dube and Riley after the first mile, but Dube pulled ahead just into the second mile and held on.
“It was kind of rough, but I felt pretty good the first half of the race,” Dube said. “I definitely improved a lot from last season.”
Mason Benedict (12th, 17:55), Hunter Burns (13th, 17:58), Trevor Pauling (14th, 18:01), Aidan Brooks (19th, 18:18) and Ben Bolton (30th, 19:00) were the scoring runners for the Kearsarge boys in their runner-up effort.
Emma Rothe (eighth, 21:10), Sydney Stockwell (10th, 21:32), Lilia Klingler (15th, 21:55), Lily Sabol (24th, 22:34) and Addison Locke (27th, 22:44) were the top five runners for the Hopkinton girls in their second-place finish.
Merrimack Valley’s David Reynolds (third, 16:26) and Matt Reynolds (10th, 17:37), Tilton School’s Patrick Guinee (fifth, 16:45), John Stark’s Brandon Langdon (eighth, 17:25) and St. Paul’s School’s Ben Leach (ninth, 17:36) were the other top-10 runners on the boys’ side.
Kearsarge’s Jenna Bears (fifth, 20:26), Tilton School’s Maddie Clark (seventh, 20:50) and Bow’s Sarah Ciotti (ninth, 21:25) rounded out the top 10 girls.
Kearsarge 5, Manchester West 0
Key players: Kearsarge – Taryn Hubley (goal), Lili Baer (goal), Izabella Von Baren (goal), Rachel Nunes (goal), Alexis McConnell (goal), Payten Hebert, Mary Meagher
Highlights/key moments: Kearsarge won its fifth straight after taking a 2-0 lead into halftime. Hebert and Meagher shared duties in net for the shutout.
Records: Kearsarge 10-6; Manchester West 0-14-1
Belmont 3, Somersworth 0
Key players: Belmont – Rebecca Fleming (2 goals), Julianna Estremera (goal), Emma Cochran (shutout in net), Morgan Rule, Mackenzie Donovan, Katie Gagnon, Chloe Sottak
Highlights/key moments: The Raiders nailed down their seventh straight win to close out the season.
Coach’s quote: “A lot of the stuff we’re working on in practice is coming together in these games.” – Belmont’s Mark Dawalga
Records: Belmont 10-3-2; Somersworth 0-16
Gilford 4, Newport 1
Key players: Gilford – Josey Curley (2 goals), Shelby Cole (goal), Lauren Dean (goal)
Highlights/key moments: The Golden Eagles spread the offense out over the game, netting two goals in each half. Dean had the highlight of the afternoon, heading a score in to help hold off Newport.
Coach’s quote: “I thought we played a very good first half, but we got complacent in the first 20 minutes of the second half and let them back in the game. After that, we started to play our game again.” – Gilford’s Tom Raymond
Records: Gilford 9-7; Newport 1-14
Pittsfield 10, Farmington 1
Key players: Pittsfield – Katie Rollins (5 goals, 2 assists), Emily Thompson (3 goals), Meredith Smith (goal), Hailey Gilleney (goal), Paige Provencal (2 assists)
Highlights/key moments: Rollins and Thompson combined for seven saves in the first half. Gilleney scored her first varsity goal. Rebecca Smith and Jolene Wood combined for three saves in the first half.
Coach’s quote: “Everyone got to play tonight and it was nice seeing all the younger girls out there getting varsity experience.” – Pittsfield’s Jayme Kennedy
Records: Pittsfield 10-6; Farmingon 0-16
John Stark 3, Trinity 0
Key players: John Stark – Jared Peterson (assist), Jon Rizzitano (assist, goal), Patrick Kalob (goal), Jake Reynolds (goal), Chase Paterson (shutout in goal)
Highlights/key moments: The Generals dominated the game throughout to earn their 10th win of the year.
Coach’s quote: “A big thank you to seniors Evan Caswell, Patrick Kalob, Greg Labrie, Jacob Couture, Jake Reynolds, Spencer Janelle, Tyler Restuccia, Lawson Murray, Jacob Ward, Tim McComish, and Chase Patterson for all they have done for the program.” – John Stark’s Jeff Vogt
Records: John Stark 10-5-1; Trinity 3-12-1
Merrimack Valley 2, Kennett 1
Key players: MV – Tiegan Friedrich (goal), Logan Cassin (goal), Cam Woodman (assist), Coby Mercier (assist)
Highlights/key moments: Kennett played tight defense and it took until the second half for MV to get on the board. Kennett answered with a free kick to tie the score, but Cassin was able to find the net with a ball crossed through from Coby Mercier.
Coach’s quote: “We possessed the ball for a majority of the game but it was just difficult for us to find the back of the net tonight. The team is ready for a tough game in the first round of playoffs.” – MV’s Ken Fuller
Records: MV 9-7; Kennett 0-13-3
Pembroke 3, Souhegan 0
Key players: Pembroke – Damon Smith (goal)
Highlights/key moments: Souhegan scored on its own net five minutes into the game to help Pembroke on its way to its 14th win of the year.
Records: Pembroke 14-1-1; Souhegan 7-7
Hillsboro-Deering 3, Laconia 2
Key players: H-D – Elijah Winters (2 goals, assist), Julian Howell (assist), Kieran Kenny (goal), Thomas Ferg (7 saves), Kadin Garvin, Jack Ferguson, Ben Ketterer
Highlights/key moments: Laconia took an early 1-0 lead but back-to-back goals by the Hillcats put the game in their control.
Coach’s quote: “A lot of things came together for our boys in this game. It was just awesome.” – H-D’s Glen
Records: H-D 5-8-1, Laconia 5-10-1
Portsmouth 3, Laconia 0
Key players: Laconia – Hannah Dow (8 kills, 5 digs), Maddy Todd (6 kills, 9 digs)
Highlights/key moments: The Sachems struggled to keep up with a strong-hitting Portsmouth team in their regular-season finale.
Records: Laconia 9-5; Portsmouth 13-3
Pittsfield 3, Nute 1
Key players: Pittsfield – Arianna Cyr (16 digs, 9 kills, 3 aces), Emma Smith (14 digs, 16 kills 2 aces)
Highlights/key moments: The Panthers won the first set, 25-21, dropped the second, 25-20, and won the next to to seal the match, 25-19 and 25-16. The first two sets were back and forth, but Pittsfield started pulling away the second half of the third set. They took over in the fourth set on an eight-point run and didn’t look back.
Coach’s quote: “The girls played very well tonight. They kept their emotions in check, and played as a team. Our hitters were stroking the ball well, and the defense showed up to play.” – Pittsfield’s Paul Strickhart
Records: Pittsfield 8-7; Nute 7-9