The results of the 48th annual Capital Area Cross Country Championship were remarkably similar to those of the 47th edition, although the conditions were not.
Concord senior Josiah Conley defended the boys’ title, Hopkinton junior Maddy Lane won her third consecutive crown and set a course record, and the St. Paul’s boys’ and girls’ teams swept the team titles at the 14-team event at Merrimack Valley High School on Thursday.
The annual showdown between both public and private schools in the Concord area serves as the final tuneup – in addition to regional bragging rights – heading into championship season, which starts on Oct. 25 with the NHIAA division championships.
For area runners hoping to advance beyond the division championships to the Meet of Champions, New Englands, and the regional and national meets that follow, there is surely some cold weather in their future. Thursday’s blustery conditions and cold temperatures gave a taste of what is to come.
Conley and Lane both took early leads in their respective races and extended them over the 5K course to win by comfortable margins.
Conley defended his title in the first varsity race of the day, finishing in 16 minutes, 11.04 seconds, over 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Owen Gorenc of St. Paul’s School (16:26.85).
Lane, racing by herself for nearly the entire race, won by an even greater margin, setting a new course record in 18:11.91, about 40 seconds ahead of Aedyn Kourakos of St. Paul’s. Lane broke the previous record of 18:22, run by Merrimack Valley’s Sophia Reynolds in 2018.
“I was really happy I got the course record,” Lane said. “It’s always super cold in the championship season in November and (hopefully) late December. Today was the first really cold race we had.”
Conley also commented on the timing and value of the Capital Area Championship.
“It’s always a good preview for states to see how things feel, and I feel pretty good today,” Conley said. “I definitely like the cold more. Between states, MOC and New Englands, you normally get one hot one, one cold one and one in between, so this has to prepare me for at least one of them.”
The Capital Area Championship also provides additional competition in the form of the St. Paul’s cross country team, who the NHIAA programs don’t race against in any other meets.
The Big Red placed all seven boys in the top 13 to easily top the boys’ standings with 24 points. The St. Paul’s girls faced a challenge from Hopkinton, but placed five scorers in the top 16 and all seven runners in the top 23 as the Big Red edged the Hawks 43-53.
Gorenc, Linus Krenkel (fourth, 16:46), Langston Williams (sixth, 16:50), Charlie Harvey (seventh, 16:57), Daniel Hong (ninth, 17:06), Silas Collins (11th, 17:25) and Chappy Carroll (13th, 17:34) were the runners for the St. Paul’s boys’ squad.
Kourakos, Brooks Boyd (eighth, 20:32), Allison Min (12th, 21:06), Mackenzie Barrette (13th, 21:08), C.C. Goss (16th, 21:18), Myrina Brown (21st, 21:40) and Clara Tcherepnin (23rd, 21:46) ran for the Big Red girls.
“(The competition) definitely is important,” said Concord sophomore Spencer Clemans, who was eighth in the boys’ race. “It humbled me a little … I pushed as hard as I could. It wasn’t my best race, but it was a good race. (Division I and MOC) is what matters.”
St. Paul’s (24), Concord (79), Hopkinton (94), Bow (101) and Laconia (132) were the top five boys’ teams, with Merrimack Valley (165), John Stark (191), Belmont (214), Pembroke (242), Gilford (298), Kearsarge (307) and Bishop Brady (322) completing the boys’ team scores.
St. Paul’s (43), Hopkinton (53), Concord (69), MV (147, fourth base on the tiebreaker), Gilford (147, fifth based on the tiebreaker), Laconia (163), Pembroke (180), John Stark (192), Belmont (217) and Bow (224) were the 10 scores for the girls’ teams.
Clemans (16:57), Connor Fennessy (22nd, 18:07), Will Magee (23rd, 18:11), Stefan West (29th, 18:46) and Ethan Harmon (30th, 18:49) were the top runners for the Concord boys in their runner-up effort.
Max Goupil (fifth, 16:48), James Lavers (12th, 17:29), Finnegan Kovar (18th, 17:57), Liam Tripod (31st, 18:55) and Michael Crosby (33rd, 19:02) scored for the third-place Hopkinton boys.
Proctor’s Max Preuss (third, 16:38), John Stark’s Austin Patenaude (10th, 17:20); Bow’s Wyatt Worcester (14th, 17:40), Sam Kohl (17th, 17:56) and Ian Sandahl (20th, 18:03); MV’s Ben Geoffroy (16th, 17:54), Pembroke’s William LeCain (21st, 18:03) and Belmont’s Wyatt Divers (25th, 18:25) were the other top local runners in the boys’ race.
Maisie Emerson (fourth, 19:23), Rose Afflerbach (ninth, 20:43), Elli Gregory (15th, 21:18) and Gwyneth Buelte (31st, 22:24) were the other scoring runners for second-place Hopkinton girls.
Mahalie Burdette (fifth, 19:46), Quinn Doherty (10th, 20:49), Jillian Price (18th, 21:36), Grace Henry (20th, 21:39) and Clover Doperalski (26th, 21:58) scored for the third-place Concord girls.
Gilford’s Maria Tilley (third, 19:18), Bishop Brady’s Eloise Burns (sixth, 20:15), Proctor’s Catherine Vierzen (seventh, 20:22), Bow’s Julia Hou (11th, 20:54), Pembroke’s Caitrin Bergeron (14th, 21:13), John Stark’s Nora Smith (22nd, 21:43) and MV’s Reagan Jefferson (25th, 21:57) were other top area runners in the girls’ race.
All three NHIAA division championships will be held on Oct. 25 at Derryfield Park in Manchester.