Twenty teams converged on DeMeritt Hill Farm in Lee for the Bobcat Invitational on Saturday, the largest cross country event held in the state so far this season, and area runners took advantage of the opportunity.
Bow senior Susanna Zahn led the girls’ race from start to finish, opening a gap through the first mile and expanding it throughout the 5K, cruising to a victory in a time of 18 minutes, 39 seconds, on a challenging course with three major climbs.
MacKenzie Cook, running for host Oyster River, finished nearly a minute behind in 19:26, while Zahn’s fellow Falcon Maya Brochu finished third in 20:19.
Hopkinton sophomore Shaylee Murdough (seventh, 21:04) and senior Hannah Bennett (ninth, 21:04) both finished in the top 10 to lead the Hawks to third place in the team standings.
Division I Bedford (63 points) and D-II Oyster River (82) were the top two teams, while D-III Hopkinton (98) topped a number of talented teams from higher divisions, including fourth-place Concord (110), Dover (128), Winnacunnet (176) and Bow (202) in the top seven.
Elizabeth Trafton (26th, 23:03), Reese Bove (27th, 23:09) and Clara Locke (32nd, 23:17) were the other scoring runners for the Hawks.
“We had a really great race against many of this season’s top-ranked girls’ teams,” Hopkinton coach Rob Rothe said. “It’s still early in the season, but the team is looking strong so far. We have a big gap between our top two and the rest of the scoring team that we need to try to close as the season progresses.”
Junior Alina Pincoske (10th, 21:12) was Concord’s top runner, followed by Molly Nyhan (21st, 22:30), Morgan Doherty (24th, 22:54), Ava Philbrook (25th, 23:02) Phoebe Dater-Roberts (34th, 23:20).
Delia Brochu (63rd, 25:25), Julia Hou (74th, 26:39) and Adee Cooper (91st, 28:30) rounded out Bow’s scorers.
The boys’ race was won by Lebanon’s Birhanu Harriman (16:10), who edged Gilford’s Patrick Gandini by one second for the individual crown.
Exeter (90), Oyster River (115), Winnacunnet (134), Londonderry (144) and Concord (147) were the top five teams.
Freshman Josiah Conley (sixth, 17:13) continues his impressive rookie season, while Tyler Watt (20th, 18:16), Wesley Thompson (22nd, 18:36), Shaun Fifield (29th, 19:00) and Jacob Gurtner (84th, 21:36) led Concord.
Bow finished 11th and Pembroke finished 14th, while Hopkinton did not have enough runners to score, but had strong individual races from juniors Ben Daniels (17th, 18:09) and Matt Clarner (18th, 18:11).
Alden Betterley (27th, 18:58), Owen Miller (34th, 19:15) and Aiden Ciminesi (62nd, 20:40) paced Bow, and Caleb Saturley (77th, 21:27) and Jackson Walker (82nd, 21:33) led Pembroke.