MANCHESTER – To defeat the Concord boys’ cross country team, a team with a perfect record against New Hampshire competition heading into Saturday’s Division I cross country championship, would take a perfect effort. And unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, Pinkerton had one.
Despite placing three runners in the top 11, including a fifth-place finish from sophomore Forest Mackenzie (16:26), the Astros (60 points) just barely edged Concord (64) to win their fourth-straight D-I title.
The Concord boys still advanced to next weekend’s Meet of Champions by virtue of its top-eight team finish, as did the girls’ team behind its eighth-place finish Saturday at Derryfield Park.
The Meet of Champions – a true state championship pitting teams and individuals from all three division in a single meet – will be held Nov. 5 at Mines Falls in Nashua.
The boys’ D-I meet was as close as a race could get. Both Concord and Pinkerton’s top-five runners averaged identical times of 16:43, with Concord placing five in the top 25 and Pinkerton placing six in the top 23.
“I think people definitely finished the race today and felt like they had used their legs to the greatest possible extent,” Concord Coach Tristan Black-Ingersoll said. “Anytime you can go out and feel that you’ve challenged yourself and you can walk away from the finish line knowing you had nothing more to give, any result is okay, any result is acceptable.”
Maybe it was experience. Maybe it was emotion. Or maybe it was something else, “there’s so many variables,” Black-Ingersoll said. But as Mackenzie simply put it, “We obviously wanted the win. But Pinkerton is great. They ran perfectly. We didn’t run great. That’s how it should be to win a state championship. We were good, but not great.”
Jamie Wilkes, the lone senior in Concord’s top seven, finished seventh (16:30) and junior Ollie Spencer finished 11th (16:39) to lead the Tide boys alongside Mackenzie. Sophomore Eli Boesch-Dining (16th, 16:54), freshman Ryan Devin (25th, 17:07), junior Matthew O’Brien (31st, 17:25) and junior Alex Duncan (40th, 17:33) rounded out Concord’s finishers.
Mackenzie, Wilkes and Spencer had a strong start and were in fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively, through the first mile, trailing a lead pack of three runners, including Keene’s Jonathan Allard (first, 16:13) and Alvirne’s Noah Bellomo (second, 16:17). But Astros seniors Calvin Graves (16:21) and Jonathan L’Abbe (16:25) made up a lot of ground in the second half of the race to finish third and fourth, respectively.
“We respected and definitely knew that Pinkerton would bring it today. They earned it,” said Mackenzie, adding that his fifth-place finish as a sophomore is “bittersweet, but I’m looking forward to what the future holds.”
Wilkes agreed.
“Not the result we were looking for, but we ran our hardest,” he said. “I’m proud of our guys for going out and giving it all we had. It was a battle.”
“They must have (personal records) across the board. All seven,” said Pinkerton Coach Michael Clark, a Bow resident and 39-year coaching veteran. “I didn’t have one kid not do his best. You usually have one or two who have an off day. Without question, we knew everyone would need to have their best day.”
Black-Ingersoll said, “We were very impressed with how much they were able to improve since the Manchester Invitational meet. … Coach Clark should be recognized as one of the greatest cross country coaches ever … It’s a privilege to compete against a team like Pinkerton. I’m proud to say we have a real rivalry with them, which we couldn’t say last year.”
Keene (85), Nashua North (93), Alvirne (155), Nashua South (196), Londonderry (202) and Bishop Guertin (224) rounded out the top right on the boys’ side.
The Tide girls achieved their goal of qualifying for the Meet of Champions, thanks to strong races from seniors Jennika Mannesto (14th, 19:42) and Cassie Shea (35th, 20:33).
“Jennika had a really strong race. Shea has been battling an injury and stepped it up for our team today as well,” Concord Coach Ally Davis said. “Without those standout performances, we wouldn’t have made it.”
Junior Molly Bragg (52nd, 21:22) and sophomores Gabby Czerula (53rd, 21:24) and Sarah Zarakotas (56th, 21:34) worked well together to round out the Tide’s scoring, while sophomore Lauren Soper (64th, 22:12) finished with a personal record and freshman Serena Britos (75th, 22:40) also ran well.
“All of the girls pushed themselves today,” Davis said. “They weren’t ready for their season to end. They had this goal in mind and they worked so hard.”
Pinkerton (67) won the girls’ race to defend its title, with Bishop Guertin (85), Alvirne (115), Merrimack (129), Bedford (134), Exeter (146) and Manchester Central (200) rounding out the top seven. The Tide girls (210) edged out Nashua South (214) for the eighth and final MOC spot.
Exeter junior Jackie Gaughan won the individual title in 17:36, smashing the previous state record of 17:57. Bishop Guertin freshman Caroline Fischer finished second in 17:59.