Every NHIAA cross country program in the state competed in their respective division championship at Derryfield Park on Saturday, but few came away with as much hardware as Hopkinton.
Junior Maddy Lane won her third straight individual title with a 5K time of 18 minutes, 58.53 seconds, and was followed by sophomore teammate Maisie Emerson’s breakout second-place run. That 1-2 punch helped the Hawk girls easily defend their team crown and their undefeated season against D-III opponents alive.
The Hawk boys brought home some hardware too, finishing second as a team by placing four runners in the top 24. Monadnock, led by individual champion senior Peyton Joslyn (16:03.44), placed five runners in the top 23 to take the team title.
As expected, Lane jumped out to an early lead and held it without a challenger, finishing the race roughly 1:18 ahead of the next group of finishers.
It was a solid race to open up what is hopefully a long championship season for Lane, with a guaranteed trip to the Meet of Champions next weekend, and possible trips to New Englands, regionals and nationals in the coming weeks. Lane has only lost once this season, finishing in third at the Thetford Woods Trail Run in Vermont to D-I Alexis Paterna of Exeter and Lauren Parrett of Glastonbury, Conn.
“I would say I was trying to be steady. I went into it wanting to run under 19 minutes and get a pretty decent time, but I wasn’t looking to do anything insane,” Lane said. “Just be consistent.”
While Lane’s victory was anything but shocking, Emerson’s runner-up finish was a big breakout performance and an improvement over last year’s sixth-place result.
Emerson, Gilford senior Maria Tilley and Pelham junior Addison Martin stayed together in the lead chase group for the duration of the race, with Emerson staying just behind them and then passing them with a big kick over the last 200 minutes.
Emerson clocked a 20:16, building a lead over Tilley (20:19) and Martin (20:21) down the home stretch.
“It’s awesome that me and Maisie were able to go 1-2,” Lane said. “I think we went into it knowing we could win it as a team and it was great that we were able to pull it off.”
Head coach Rob Rothe took his team to Derryfield Park for a practice earlier in the week leading up the championships, and it paid off.
“I would say that (second place) was her goal,” Rothe said. “She knew she could be there. She was there for the entire race within reach of it. The last 200, she really had to push that. We just practiced it this past week so she knew (when) to go. That was awesome. Definitely a breakout year for her overall. To cap it off with (runner-up) is fantastic. Maisie has been racing with Tilley most of the season, back and forth, with mostly Tilley coming out on top.”
Freshmen Elli Gregory (23rd, 22:24) and Hannah Clarner (30th, 22:52), and junior Rose Afflerbach (25th, 22:29) were Hopkinton’s other scoring runners, while freshman Gwyneth Buelte (36th, 23:19) and junior Lucy Beardmore (90th, 27:29) rounded out the champion squad.
“There were a lot of bodies lying down at the finish line,” Rothe said. “It’s a sign of them pushing it to the limit. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
For the boys, sophomore Max Goupil led the Hawks as he has all season, finishing sixth in 17:24, with junior James Lavers not far behind in eighth in 17:39.
“James has definitely been pulling up this year. He has been our biggest mover since last year,” Rothe said. “For him to come through on this meet and be so strong in the last 200 and really make some good moves…Super impressed with his efforts this year. He’s a big reason why we are where we are today.”
Three more Huskies crossed the line before the next Hopkinton runner, which opened up Monadnock’s lead.
Sophomore Finnegan Kovar (18th, 18:38) and freshman Liam Tripod (24th, 18:46) finished inside the top 25, with sophomore Michael Crosby (34th, 19:13) rounding out the scoring, and junior Andrew Clarner (42nd, 19:37) and sophomore Isaac Ohl (48th, 19:54) racing well.
“They knew they had a chance to possibly win, so that’s what they were going for,” Rothe said. “But we haven’t actually faced Monadnock in some of the bigger meets we’ve been to this year. It’s one of those things where until you actually race them and face them, we weren’t really sure what was going to happen. They left it all out there. Coming from sixth place last year to second this year, that’s awesome. Monadnock grouped (their runners) a little bit higher than us. But there’s no seniors on (our) scoring team, they’re already thinking about next year.”
The Hawks’ attention now turns to the Meet of Champions, but not before dedicating their championship to former Hopkinton runner Anna O’Reilly, a class of 2022 graduate who died by suicide in July.
“She won two cross country championships and a track championship with us just a few years ago,” Rothe said. “This girls’ team never really knew her, but they knew what she brought to the team, what she meant and the legacy that she left. They won this one for her today.”
The current kettle of Hawks is contributing to the same legacy that O’Reilly and her teammates started. The Hopkinton girls have won six cross country team titles in the last eight years.
“We’re feeling strong,” Emerson said. “This is possibly one of the best races we’ve run as a team so far and we’re looking to carry that good energy through the rest of the season.”
Girls
Hopkinton cruised to the title with 60 points, followed by Portsmouth Christian (87), Newfound (162), Newmarket (186) and Fall Mountain (197) in the top five.
Fall Mountain had the faster sixth runner to break a tie with Pelham (197) and Sanborn (197) to claim the final qualifying spot for MOC. The top five teams and 25 runners in each division advance.
Bishop Brady sophomore Eloise Burns was the other local to qualify out of the D-III girls, finishing eighth in 21:12.
Belmont (278), Bishop Brady (289) and Winnisquam (298) finished 13th-15th, respectively.
Jenna Laramie (53rd, 24:46), Hailey Clairmont (61st, 25:09), Riley Degange (79th, 26:51), Lyla McSheffrey (83rd, 27:01) and Violet Smith (86th, 27:21) scored for Belmont.
Burns, Teresa Lavoie (49th, 24:32), Autumn Rosario (104th, 29:00), Marcella Tonge (108th, 29:31) and Joyanna Kabanda (119th, 30:49) scored for Brady.
Eloise Abbot (37th, 23:20), Eliza Allen (66th, 25:26), Katherine Allen (74th, 26:16), Bella Dalzell (96th, 27:53) and Penelope McSweeny (123rd, 33:04) scored for Winnisquam.
Hillsboro-Deering and Kearsarge did not have enough runners for team scores, and were led by Sarah McGranaghan (43rd, 23:57) and Ainsley Frenkiewich (107th, 29:29), respectively.
Boys
Monadnock (63), Hopkinton (90), Portsmouth Christian (114), Newfound (140) and Newmarket (162) were the top five teams in the boys’ standings.
The other local to qualify for MOC was Belmont senior Wyatt Divers (14th, 18:28), who led the Red Raiders (304) to ninth place.
Sean Andrews (51st, 19:56), Brayden Townsend (69th, 20:39), Jack Crockford (89th, 21:04) and Lucas McSheffrey (90th, 21:04) also scored for Belmont.
Winnisquam (437) finished 19th and was led by Cullen Desrochers (35th, 19:14), Lazar Arbutina (68th, 20:38), Kyren Whitmore (107th, 21:57), Owen Bakis (119th, 22:26) and Lucas Durphey (129th, 22:55).
Bishop Brady (635) was 24th. Earl Mitchell (94th, 21:10), Thomas Hickey-Pfaefflin (121st, 22:28), James Horangic (128th, 22:53), Jason Condodemetraky (176th, 28:03) and Tyler Mooney (183rd, 33:43) scored for the Giants.
Kearsarge and Hillsboro-Deering had four runners each, one shy of qualifying, and were led by Zachary Hattan (79th, 20:48) and Keegan Poland (123rd, 22:45), respectively.