MANCHESTER – Concord cross country coaches Zach Procek and Ally Davis both predicted a wide open contest for the team titles in Division I with several teams, including their own, in contention. It turns out they were right, as very little separated the top teams and both the Crimson Tide boys’ and girls’ programs qualified for the Meet of Champions by finishing sixth at Derryfield Park on Saturday.
Pinkerton (80 points) won the D-I boys’ title, but the next six teams that qualified – Windham (142), Nashua South (154), Bishop Guertin (164), Exeter (165), Concord (167) and Winnacunnet (171) – were only separated by 29 points.
It was the type of race where finishing one or two seconds faster or slower could mean a swing of a few points, and the Tide boys were successful in keeping their scoring five runners in the tightest pack it’s been in all season.
Freshman Josiah Conley (20th, 17:08), senior Liam Gleason (30th, 17:23), junior Tyler Watt (32nd, 17:27), and seniors Wesley Thompson (37th, 17:42) and Shaun Fifield (48th, 18:01) scored for the Concord boys, with junior Liam White (71st, 18:31) and senior Jacob Gurtner (110th, 20:06) also running well.
“Tyler caught a bunch of guys in that last 400 meters and Shaun kicked hard right at the end jumped ahead of four guys in the last 15 feet or so,” boys’ coach Procek said. “But each runner had their own particular strength today that yielded a great result. Shout out to Pinkerton, a 21-second spread (of the five scorers) is unbeatable, but we got our five-man spread under a minute and I’m really proud of that. We had a lot of guys hitting course (personal records) today, so great work all around.”
Gleason added: “I think that shows what we are. We’re a good competitor in a really tight division this year. We tune up a couple of things, we have a real shot at being one of the best in the state, not just Division I. That’s definitely been a focus all year. That’s how you win, is getting your numbers tight. Everybody was running where they needed to be.”
And next Saturday’s MOC at Alvirne High School could play more to the Tide’s strengths.
“I think we definitely can run a lot better,” Fifield said. “We’re definitely good on flatter courses (like Alvirne) so I think we’re all excited for next week. We’re going to show up.”
On the girls’ side, Pinkerton (66) edged out Bedford (70) for the team title, with Winnacunnet (115), Keene (131) and Dover (151) rounding out the top five.
Concord and Bishop Guertin tied for sixth with 177 points, but the Crimson Tide’s depth won out, with junior Ava Philbrook (Concord’s sixth runner in 50th, 22:37) besting Bishop Guertin’s sixth-best runner by seven places.
Junior Morgan Doherty (19th, 20:51) led the way for the Tide, with freshman Bella Komorek (33rd, 21:35), sophomore Phoebe Dater-Roberts (36th, 21:47), and seniors Gracie McHugh (42nd, 22:16), Molly Nyhan (47th, 22:32) and Christina Malette (66th, 23:17) running well.
“We’re just so happy to make it MOC. .. They ran really hard today,” girls’ coach Davis said.
“Everyone really pushed themselves and worked together as a cohesive team,” Doherty added. “I’m super excited to see what’s to come at MOC.”
Winnacunnet junior Charlotte Koutalidis (19:14) and Bishop Guertin sophomore Matthew Giardina (16:00) won the individual titles.