MANCHESTER – Defeating the defending champion Hopkinton girls’ cross country team – a team undefeated against Division III competition this year – would take a perfect day. And that’s exactly what Kearsarge had.
Senior Mya Dube defended her individual crown for the second time, finishing the Derryfield Park 5K in 19:07, and teammates Lili Baer (20:27.1) and Jenna Bears (20:27.4) finished fifth and sixth to lead Kearsarge, but it was freshman Madelin Prak’s clutch 17th-place finish in 21:15 and senior Marla Richer’s 31st-place finish in 22:33 that lifted the Cougars to the school’s first ever girls’ cross country title.
In a battle of talented front-runners versus depth and balance, Kearsarge edged Hopkinton by four points, 53-57.
“I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” Kearsarge coach Ernie Brake said. “We were hoping for the title today, but we were the underdog. Listening to the awards ceremony we still weren’t quite sure who had won because it was so close. When we heard Hopkinton, runner-up, it hadn’t dawned on me yet, ‘wait a minute, who is left? That’s us!’ ”
The Hawks, the clear favorite and No. 7 ranked team in the state (rankings combine all three NHIAA divisions), had all seven runners in a tight group, finishing between eighth and 24th place.
Freshman Hannah Bennett (20:39) led Hopkinton with an eighth-place finish, while Anna O’Reilly (11th, 20:52), Emma Rothe (12th, 20:57), Cailey Stockwell (14th, 21:06), Sydney Stockwell (18th, 21:18), Cate Westbrook (22nd, 21:39) and Lily Sabol (24th, 21:49) also had strong races for the Hawks.
Katelyn Harvey (33rd, 22:49) and Ellie Madigan (43rd, 23:15) rounded out the Cougars’ varsity lineup.
Hopkinton had defeated Kearsarge in their two previous meetings – by 80 points at the Manchester Invitational and by 23 points at the Belmont Jeri Blair Invitational three weeks ago – so Brake knew that his squad was within striking distance.
“I knew we were maybe a little stronger than them up front, but they’re solid Nos. 1-7,” said Brake. “With some of the training we’ve done in the last couple of weeks we’ve really focused on trying to run more as a group and trying to move the No. 4 and No. 5 girls up. We talked about it all this past week. We came down on Tuesday and did a workout on the course. We emphasized moving on the flats and working on the downhill to gain every position you could get. We talked about how every second could be a spot during the race. It all came together on the right day.”
Prak’s 17th-place finish put her right in the middle of Hopkinton’s main pack, while Richer’s 31st-place finish kept her within range of the Hawks runners.
“(Prak’s) goal was to try to stay with Jenna (Bears),” Brake said. “She was with her through a mile and half and then trailed off a little bit, but kept her in sight. She was really solid today. (Richer) also ran a great race.”
Up front, Dube and Portsmouth Christian’s Liza Corso stayed together through the first mile, but Dube pulled away on the downhill at the start of the second mile and ended up winning by 17 seconds.
“My goal going into it was to win one last time,” said Dube, who won in 2017 and 2018. “I had a huge PR (personal record) on this course so I was stoked about that. Honestly, I thought second place (as a team) was realistic. Hopkinton, they’re all super good and they have a wicked tight pack. So I thought it would be really tough to beat them, and then hearing the scores I was like ‘there’s no way!’ But we did it.”
Dube and a strong senior class have helped develop the Kearsarge cross country program into one of the most consistent in the division, finishing fourth in 2016 and third in 2017 and 2018, and finally breaking through with a title on Saturday.
“I’m really glad that we were finally able to pull it together,” said Bears, who is also a senior. “I know at the beginning of the season, knowing how good Hopkinton was, it was not really a possibility, but the more we trained and the more we raced the more that I thought it could be a reality.”
“I think just (Dube’s) presence. … kids have seen her hard work and what kind of results you can get and how that’s paying off,” Brake said. “Next year we’ve got such a young team and I’m hoping that Mya, Jenna, Ellie Madigan and Marla will rub off on this younger generation after what happened today.”
The Cougars, Hopkinton, third-place Campbell (129), fourth-place Portsmouth Christian (131) and fifth-place Newmarket (173) advanced to next weekend’s Meet of Champions.
“A few of the girls were a little off this race and with Kearsarge on point, that was enough to make the difference,” Hopkinton coach Rob Rothe said. “Still, it was a great showing by these young ladies and they will refocus to come on strong at the Meet of Champions next weekend. I am so proud of all they have accomplished this season.”
Winnisquam’s Faith Gosselin (10th, 20:50) and Bishop Brady’s Abby Shagena (20th, 2:28) advanced individually via top 20 finishes.
Belmont (15th) and Winnisquam (18th) were the other local teams that competed.
Aurora Couto (35th, 23:00) was the top runner for Belmont and Emma Curley (111th, 27:31) was the lone competitor for Hillsboro-Deering.
On the boys’ side, Mascenic’s Landen Vaillancourt won in 16:07 helping the Vikings defend the team title with 87 points, but the Hopkinton boys exceeded preseason expectations by finishing second with 112 points.
Senior Shepyrd Murdough ran a 17:17 to finish fourth, while Michael Eggers-Emerson (21st, 17:59), Nick Simpkins (22nd, 18:00), Theodore Mollano (25th, 18:05) and Parker Wuellenweber (41st, 18:38) rounded out Hopkinton’s scorers.
“The boys had a different story with the same result (as the girls),” Rothe said. “They came in knowing they had a shot at the top two if they ran a really smart and strong race. They did just that. Some great personal achievements today by these boys and an exceptional race by Shepyrd. They have really focused and worked hard this season and it has paid off.”
Conant (120), Campbell (133) and Kearsarge (155) were the other boys’ teams in the top five.
Winnisquam (ninth), Bishop Brady (11th) and Belmont (22nd) were the other local teams in the 28-team field.
Kearsarge’s Gavin Garzia (eighth, 17:30) and Ed Stowell (15th, 17:45), and Winnisquam’s Dylan Robert (14th) were the other top 20 finishers locally, while Winnisquam’s Riley Mann (32nd, 18:20), Bishop Brady’s Oscar Miller (35th, 18:28), Belmont’s Jared Whitcomb (64th, 19:34) and Hillsboro-Deering’s Elias Ek (126th, 21:16) were the other top runners for their schools.