Held annually one week prior to the NHIAA division championships, the Capital Area Cross Country Championship gives area programs one last tuneup before a potentially long championship season. It’s an event that celebrates the sport of cross country and the best runners in the region, a special honor given the strength of the teams and athletes in the area, and luckily for the favorites, there were no surprises in this year’s edition.
Concord once again swept the team titles, with the Crimson Tide girls’ winning their 11th straight title and the boys’ winning their sixth, while Gilford’s Patrick Gandini defended his boys’ individual crown in a course record time and Bow’s heavily favored Susanna Zahn won the girls’ race at the 45th Capital Area Championship at Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook on Thursday.
Gandini clocked a 15 minute, 46 second race on the 5K course, breaking the previous record of 15:56 set in 2018 by Concord’s Forest MacKenzie, who is now running for NCAA Division I University of Louisville. Zahn won in 18:46.
Both seniors, Gandini and Zahn led from start to finish, claiming Capital Area supremacy with commanding victories. Gandini won by 1:31 over Concord freshman phenom Josiah Conley, while Zahn finished 1:05 ahead of Hopkinton’s Hannah Bennett.
John Stark’s Eli Lemire (17:18) and Kearsarge’s Molly Ellison (19:59) finished third in the boys’ and girls’ races, respectively.
“For me, I’ve had really bad past years here, coincidentally, so I definitely wanted to come and end it on a good note,” Zahn said. “MV was the first cross country meet I ever did as a middle schooler, so it’s pretty special. It means a lot to win and represent (Bow). … The course is pretty twisty and turny, it’s definitely pretty technical, but it’s fun. I definitely wanted to run a little faster than I did, but I was still happy with it. I wanted to run fast and go into states with a really good mindset.”
Zahn is the first Falcon to win the Capital Area Championship since Emily Buck won the girls’ crown in 2010.
After sweeping the team championships and placing several runners in the top 30 on both sides, the Concord cross country program should also be in a positive mindset heading into next weekend’s Division I championship.
Conley finished in 17:17 with Liam Gleason (fourth, 17:18), Wesley Thompson (sixth, 17:31), Tyler Watt (12th, 17:49) and Shaun Fifield (13th, 17:57) not far behind. The Tide boys graduated their top three runners from last year and started the season with a spread of nearly two minutes between the first and fifth runners, but on Thursday that spread was whittled down to 40 seconds.
“We’ve been putting a lot of work into getting our numbers together and trying to get our spread more consolidated,” Concord boys’ coach Zach Procek said. “I’m happy with that, after losing what we lost last year, to have our guys back up to (below 18 minutes). These guys are fully capable of that.”
The Tide also flexed its depth, with Matthew Hooper (49th, 19:49) and Tucker McPartlin (59th, 20:30) running well in the varsity race, and Aldo Ruelas Arceo winning the combined JV race in 20:01.
Concord won the boys’ title with 37 points, followed by St. Pauls (61), Gilford (134), Bow (143) and hosts Merrimack Valley (185) rounding out the top five teams.
The girls’ team race was an intriguing battle between D-I Concord, D-II Bow and D-III Hopkinton, all of which are expected to have high finishes in their respective divisions at next weekend’s championships – even contend for state titles.
The team scores were much closer on the girls’ side, with the Tide winning by just two points over Hopkinton, 50-52, with Bow (81) finishing in third, and Kearsarge (121) and MV (132) coming in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Runners from Concord, Hopkinton and Bow accounted for 12 of the top 15 places, but Molly Nyhan (fifth, 20:11), Morgan Doherty (seventh, 20:52), Gracie McHugh (11th, 21:28), Bella Komorek (12th, 21:35) and Ava Philbrook (15th, 21:43) had the depth to overcome strong finishes by Hopkinton’s Bennett (19:52), ShayleeMurdough (fourth, 20:05), Elizabeth Trafton (ninth, 21:20), Reese Bove (14th, 21:39) and Elizabeth Clarner (24th, 22:25), and Bow’s Maya Brochu (sixth, 20:19) and Hannah Pawlowski (13th, 21:39).
Phoebe Dater-Roberts (18th, 22:04) and Christina Malette (26th, 22:27) rounded out Concord’s champion team.
“I thought that maybe (winning) was possible, but we’ve had a lot of injuries this season and we’ve been dealing with that, but these girls pulled it off today. They raced their hearts out,” Concord girls’ coach Ally Davis said. “They were strong the whole time, they were consistent and they followed their plan.”
The Tide tends to have strong pack running, with several girls in the mix just behind the leaders of any race, but Davis highlighted Komorek as someone who outperformed her usual spot, picking up crucial places that helped put Concord on top.
“Bella popped off today. She ran awesome,” Davis said. “There’s usually a lot of mixing in that group, but Bella really took off and was close to Gracie, that was really good for us.”
Davis added: “I feel very confident in this seven … They raced really strong and smart today.”
Thursday concluded the regular season for area cross country programs as they prepare for the division championships that will all be held at Derryfield Park in Manchester on Oct. 29.
Division II will open the day at 10 a.m., followed by Division I at 11:30 a.m. and Division III at 1 p.m.
Complete team results and the top 30 finishers in both varsity races are below.
45th Capital Area XC Championship
Thursday
At Merrimack Valley High School
Boys’ team results
1. Concord, 37
1. St. Paul’s, 61
1. Gilford, 134
1. Bow, 143
1. Merrimack Valley, 185
1. Newfound, 195
1.John Stark, 198
1. Hopkinton, 217
1. Kearsarge, 227
1.Belmont, 234
1.Pembroke, 245
1.Inter-Lakes, 247
1.Proctor, 325
1.Bishop Brady, 338
1.Laconia, 343
Boys’ top 30 finishers
1. Patrick Gandini, Gilford, 15:46
1. Josiah Conley, Concord, 17:17
1. Eli Lemire, John Stark, 17:18
1. Liam Gleason, Concord, 17:18
1. Alonzo Walton, St. Paul’s, 17:18
1. Wesley Thompson, Concord, 17:31
1. Ben Daniels, Hopkinton, 17:34
1. James Campbell, St. Paul’s, 17:36
1. Evan Foster, Newfound, 17:40
1. Matt Clarner, Hopkinton, 17:41
1. Jonathan Dase, St. Paul’s, 17:42
1. Tyler Watt, Concord, 17:49
1. Shaun Fifield, Concord, 17:57
1. Alden Betterley, Bow, 17:58
1. Owen Miller, Bow, 18:00
1. Matt Berns, Kearsarge, 18:09
1. Andrew Carroll, St. Paul’s 18:14
18. Aidan Bondaz, Gilford, 18:16
19. Wyatt Divers, Belmont, 18:23
1. Ian Change, St. Paul’s, 18:24
1. Ben Dugas, Pembroke, 18:26
1. Cameron Perry, St. Paul’s, 18:33
1.Benjamin Laplume, Newfound, 18:34
1. Alden Townsend, Gilford, 18:36
1.Ronan Hird, Inter-Lakes, 18:44
1.Daniel Dalbec, Kearsarge, 18:45
1.Alex Keirstead, John Stark, 18:45
1.Oliver Forsha, MV, 18:45
1.Carter Forest, Gilford, 18:46
1.Jeffrey Huckins, Newfound, 18:52
Girls’ team results
1. Concord, 50
1. Hopkinton, 52
1. Bow, 81
1. Kearsarge, 121
1. Merrimack Valley, 132
1. Gilford, 136
1. John Stark, 168
1. Newfound, 168
1. Belmont, 229
1. Prospect Mountain, 289
Girls’ top 30 finishers
1. Susanna Zahn, Bow, 18:46
1. Hannah Bennett, Hopkinton, 19:51
1. Molly Ellison, Kearsarge, 19:55
1. Shaylee Murdough, Hopkinton, 20:05
1.Molly Nyhan, Concord, 20:11
1.Maya Brochu, Bow, 20:19
1.Morgan Doherty, Concord, 20:52
1. Georgia Eckhardt, Gilford, 21:02
1.Elizabeth Trafton, Concord, 21:20
1. Addison Alpers, Newfound, 21:22
1.Gracie McHugh, Concord, 21:28
1.Bella Komorek, Concord, 21:35
1.Hannah Pawlowski, Bow, 21:39
1.Reese Bove, Hopkinton, 21:39
1. Ava Philbrook, Concord, 21:43
1. Ceili Irving, Newfound, 21:49
1. Samantha Kimball, MV, 21:51
1. Phoebe Dater-Roberts, Concord, 22:04
1. Lily Moser, MV, 20:24
1. Amelia Lefebvre, Kearsarge, 22:05
1. Kylin Frenkiewich, Kearsarge, 22:14
1. Madison Geddes, MV, 22:14
1. Brianna Harlow, Winnisquam, 22:22
1. Elizabeth Clarner, Hopkinton, 22:25
1. Julia Hou, Bow, 22:26
1. Christina Malette, Concord, 22:27
1. Maria Tilley, Gilford, 22:31
1. Kayla Barriere, John Stark, 22:36
1. Logan Thorne-Begland, Proctor, 22:37
1. Phoenix Verite, Proctor, 22:41