The Crimson Tide may have been overlooked in the past, but nobody is overlooking the Concord boys’ cross country team now.
The Tide finished second in Division I last year, losing the title to Pinkerton by just four points, on a day that saw all seven Pinkerton runners have personal records. Up until the D-I championship, Concord had been undefeated, not losing to a single New Hampshire team all season. The only blemish was a second-place finish in a 55-team meet in Thetford, Vt., against teams from across New England. Concord also just missed out on the Meet of Champions title by seven points and finished seventh at New Englands, although they were the top New Hampshire team in that meet.
This year’s team has even greater ambitions and the talent to match.
Although Concord may not have won the hardware they were hoping for, the lessons learned by fifth-year coach Tristan Black-Ingersoll and the returning runners, were invaluable.
“It’s the classic sports cliché, coming up just short of a goal really helps you want to prepare to a much greater degree,” Black-Ingersoll said. “You have to recognize things aren’t just going to get presented to you. Other people have the same goals.”
The Tide graduated Jamie Wilkes (seventh in D-I in 2016), Concord’s top runner for most of last season, but return the remaining six athletes who comprised their D-I state meet lineup – junior Forest Mackenzie (fifth in D-I), senior Ollie Spencer (11th), junior Eli Boesch-Dining (16th), sophomore Ryan Devine (25th) senior Matthew O’Brien (31st) and senior tri-captain Alex Duncan (40th).
Also returning are the other two senior captains, Colin Conery and Nate Nichols, junior Aidan O’Hern and sophomore David Cook. All four of them have varsity-caliber speed, but they didn’t crack into the top seven due to the team’s depth.
The entire group of runners has been hard at work since last season ended. Nine runners qualified for the D-I State Meet in the mile this past outdoor track season and eight of them are running cross country this fall. That group, plus strong newcomers in senior Curtis Comrie and freshmen Eben Bragg, Trey Fortier and Brayden Kearns, gives Black-Ingersoll around 13 viable options for varsity spots.
“It’s not clear who is stronger than anybody else,” Black-Ingersoll said. “It’s important not to turn workouts into a hierarchy and pecking order. I’ve been floored at how fit that group is. I expect it will be very competitive and that some guys will emerge. Lots of guys are turning the corner and thinking of themselves as top runners. That’s a big mentality shift.”
To put the Tide’s depth in perspective, O’Hern currently has the fastest mile on the team at 4:30, but he might not even be in the top seven. All that talent has led to a positive training culture.
“Enthusiasm has built and built and built,” Black-Ingersoll said. “The big focus in our process is that everyone can get better. They’re focusing on the effort they can put in … it’s a pleasure to be part of that, seeing the kids broadening their horizons of their team and individual goals.”
And those goals are high. The Tide hopes to win D-I (it would be the program’s first title since 1981) and the Meet of Champions and make a run at the New England title. Their competition schedule was altered accordingly, given Concord more opportunities to race against New England’s best, including a race in Belfast, Maine, the site of this season’s New England championship.
The Concord girls’ team is coming in with much less experience, but it has similar enthusiasm and ambition. The Crimson Tide girls finished eighth in D-I last year, claiming the final qualifying spot for the MOC, and Concord hopes to qualify for MOC again this year.
The Tide graduated its top two runners, but returns senior captains Molly Bragg and Kat Jepson, junior Sarah Zarkotas and sophomore Serena Britos, who all spent some time in the top seven last year.
Sophomore Ellie Erickson wasn’t on varsity in 2016, but she could be in the mix this year.
“Ellie has worked really hard this summer and I think we’re going to see great things from her,” said Ally Davis, who is now in her third season as the team’s coach. “I’m very excited for her. She’s very motivated and ready to work hard.”
Although they have returning talent, the veteran athletes did not all compete in cross country as underclassmen, and two of the Tide’s best runners could end up being freshman Morgane Orcutt and Hannah Willette, who finished fifth and 22nd, respectively, in the Division I Middle School State Meet last year.
“We’re a very young team,” Davis said. “I am very excited for our newcomers and to see how their seasons go. They will be a huge asset on this team in helping us reach our goal of making it to Meet of Champions again. I think with these newcomers, we will surprise a lot of people.”
Davis is excited about her squad that is still growing and finding itself.
“I’ve noticed a drive that I hadn’t seen before,” Davis said. “They want to train. They want to be faster.”