MANCHESTER — The Coe-Brown Northwood Academy boys cross country team knew that it was facing an uphill battle — literally and figuratively — against Hanover on Saturday. The CBNA Bears did everything they could, placing three runners in the top nine and all seven in the top 21, but the other Bears did even better.
Hanover senior Ben Groves defended his state title, finishing the 5K in 15 minutes, 58.5 seconds, sophomore teammate Dylan Faris was the runner-up in 16:25 and junior Isaac McNaughton finished fourth in 16:32 to lead Hanover to its fourth straight NHIAA Division II state title at Derryfield Park on Saturday. Their work bested the efforts of Coe-Brown sophomore Samuel Youngs (third, 16:27), junior Patrick Youngs (sixth, 16:37) and sophomore Broden Cox (ninth, 16:55).
In the end, Hanover had an incredibly low score of 29 points. Meanwhile, Coe-Brown (45) settled for second for the fourth consecutive year in what has recently been an annual battle of the two Bear squads.
Hanover topped last year’s team standings by a single point.
“They have those low sticks and they’re just a great team,” said Coe-Brown co-head coach Lucas Fisher, who coaches alongside veteran Tim Cox. “We have those low sticks too, but (Hanover) was just the better team today. Our boys gave it everything they had. We couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Oyster River (64) and Souhegan (123) were third and fourth, advancing to next weekend’s Meet of Champions with Hanover and Coe-Brown. Twenty-one of the top 25 individuals who automatically qualified for MOC were one one of those four teams.
“It’s a game of inches. We had our goals of which of our runners would run with their runners. You have two great teams, both ranked in the top three,” said Fisher, referring to the weekly New Hampshire Cross Country combined ranking of teams from all three NHIAA divisions that are voted on by coaches. Three of the top four teams were from D-II: Hanover (No. 1), Coe-Brown (No. 3) and Oyster River (No. 4).
“Two of the top three teams in the whole state battling it out in one division. That’s probably one of the most competitive team races (we’ve been in) in a while,” Fisher added. “Our goal was to run with their boys and mix it up. We could not have asked for any more from them.”
Sophomore Mateo Ferguson (13th, 17:06), seniors Gus Glaser (14th, 17:15) and Ben Jobin (16th, 17:30) and junior Ben Larson (21st, 17:56) all turned in performances that normally would be enough to claim a D-II victory.
“Our boys’ spread from Nos. 1-5 was less than a minute,” Fisher said. “On a really good day it’s 30 seconds; on an average day it’s 45 seconds. They run for each other; they love each other, which is really cool. They work together really well. All were in the top 21. An incredible day.
“They knew going into it that it was going to be an uphill battle. And they gave it everything they had. When we saw them cross the line, they had nothing left. They gave it everything they had. That’s exactly what a coach wants. Not a perfect day, but a great day.”
The CBNA girls also likely will go through to next Saturday’s Meet of Champions, which will be held for the first time at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds.
Hanover won its third consecutive girls title and fourth in five years with a score of 32 points. Oyster River (59) was second and Lebanon (76) — led by the individual champion, freshman Jill Campbell (18:28.9) — finished third. Souhegan (121) was fourth to round out the automatic bids, but Coe-Brown (127) came in fifth and should secure one of six at-large MOC spots due to the average time of the team’s top five runners.
“We’re so proud of them. They’re a great group,” Fisher said. “We were dealing with some late-season injuries, a little banged up here and there, but the tenacity from all seven of them, they didn’t quit at all.”
Junior Eloise Hill (15th, 21:09) led Coe-Brown and has gradually worked her way up into the top tier of D-II runners.
“She’s been like that all season. We’ve seen that positive trajectory,” Fisher said. “We’ve been telling her that she can be right up there and mix it up with the best. She’s starting to believe that now. It’s contagious, and the other girls are following that lead. It was a great day for both programs.”
Sophomores Lily Travis (23rd, 21:53) and Enahlinda Curry (27th, 22:10) weren’t far behind, and senior leader Annabelle Lovett (32nd, 22:27) and sophomore Riley Trested (35th, 22:38) were the other scoring runners. Sophomore Anwen Purinton (39th, 23:28) stepped up to fill in for a teammate not able to race and classmate Josephine Stimmell (49th, 23:58) also ran well.
Outside of Coe-Brown, Merrimack Valley freshman Isabel Geddes (sixth, 20:21) and Pembroke Academy freshman Juliana Boucher (22nd, 21:31) also qualified for the girls Meet of Champions, while Bow juniors Sam Kohl (22nd, 18:04) and Ian Sandahl (25th, 18:14) qualified for the boys.
The Bow boys (161) were sixth, just narrowly missing the last at-large for the Meet of Champions (all of which were claimed by D-I teams). Freshman Lars Fjeldsted (29th, 18:32) and juniors Gavin Simon (40th, 18:57) and George Kohl (45th, 19:06) were the other scoring runners for the Falcons.
MV (240) finished seventh in the boys’ standings with Ben Geoffroy (33rd, 18:37), Rohan Chevalier (41st, 18:57), Nathan Mudgett (49th, 19:16), Westin Chevalier (54th, 19:40) and Jonathan Degges (67th, 20:26) scoring for the Pride.
William LeCain (42nd, 19:00), Orion Baldoumas (56th, 19:40), James Ekerberg (57th, 19:40), Jackson Bergeron (64th, 20:01) and Andrew Broek (88th, 21:57) scored for 11th-place Pembroke (301). Evan Furness (51st, 19:22), Luke Gajowski (52nd, 19:29), Jackson Loiselle (75th, 20:43), Kaeden Vanasse (80th, 21:20) and Othneil Sheperd (83rd, 21:37) scored for John Stark (13th, 333).
The MV girls (seventh, 206) also narrowly missed the MOC cut and were led by Geddes, senior Emily Baca (34th, 22:31), freshman Leann Perkins (53rd, 24:13), sophomore Brylee Flood (56th, 24:16) and junior Emma Geoffroy (65th, 25:10).
Pembroke (264) finished ninth and was led by Boucher, Caitrin Bergeron (38th, 23:19), Emmie Holt (52nd, 24:10), Delana Girouard (68th, 25:37) and Caysie Krawczyk (92nd, 31:58).
Nora Smith (47th, 23:45), Myla Small (48th, 23:55), Grace Meisser (59th, 24:30), Milla Lunderville (83rd, 23:23) and Jae Robinson (88th, 30:08) scored for John Stark (12th, 315). Mary Valas (57th, 24:24), Madelyn Fish (64th, 25:06), Brit Fischer (79th, 27:25), Gaby Klunk (85th, 28:37) and Claire Faro (86th, 28:43) scored for Bow (14th, 361).
Division I
MANCHESTER — Mahalie Burdette has had a good career running for the Concord High cross country team and on Saturday she reached another high.
Burdette finished third at the NHIAA Division I championship, crossing the 5K finish line at Derryfield Park in 19 minutes, 40.3 seconds, leading her team to third place and the program’s ninth consecutive Meet of Champions appearance.
Burdette established herself in the top tier of D-I runners throughout the season and after a half-mile found herself in third trailing only the individual champion, Exeter senior Alexis Paterna (18:21.5), who has committed to run for NCAA Division I Wake Forest next season.
Her sister, Brianna Paterna, was 50 seconds behind to take second, and that 1-2 punch led Exeter to a decisive team championship with 41 points.
Burdette knew she’d be a ways behind the Paterna sisters, but she wasn’t expecting to be the leader of the rest of the field.
“I was trying to get third, so I was trying to hang onto that the whole time and I’m really happy with it,” Burdette said. “I wasn’t trying to pace off (the Paternas), but I did think that there would be other girls in front of me, so I wasn’t really prepared to not be chasing anyone. But it went well.”
Bishop Guertin (99) was second, while Concord senior Quinn Doherty (12th, 20:45) and a trio of freshmen led the Crimson Tide to third with 121 points, knocking off traditional D-I powerhouses Pinkerton (125) and Bedford (153).
“I think we’ve been maintaining a good standing throughout the season, relative to third place,” first-year Concord girls’ head coach Sarah Zarnowski said. “We’ve seen improvement throughout the lineup, but so have other teams. I think (third) is remarkable standing on their part.”
Freshmen Corinne Conley (26th, 21:29), Maeve Durmer (36th, 22:04) and Hana Moeckel (54th, 22:45) all ran well in their first varsity championship for Concord. Sophomore Grace Henry (44th, 22:31) and junior Jillian Price (50th, 22:44) also had good races for the Tide.
“Sometimes you’re just really lucky with the draw and your freshmen come in with natural talent that you get to work with,” Zarnowski said. “That’s been amazing. And really good for creating healthy competition within the team. … I’m just so proud of (all the girls). They have a great spirit and a great culture.”
Joining Concord at next weekend’s Meet of Champions are the other top five teams, plus Windham (166), Keene (196), Nashua North (207) and Alvirne (222), who took sixth through ninth place and advanced via at-large bids.
Although it’s been nine consecutive years that the Tide girls have made it through, Saturday was the first time Concord has cracked the top three in D-I in Burdette’s career.
“We’re really happy,” Burdette added. “We came into this knowing that MOCs wasn’t guaranteed. We have those freshmen who are really good and I’m really proud of them. … They’re going to do amazing things in the next couple of years.”
Having lost last year’s top two runners (Josiah Conley graduated and Spencer Clemans transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy), the Concord boys are rebuilding and finished 12th in Saturday’s D-I meet.
Sophomore Will Magee (33rd) broke 18 minutes for the first time, clocking a time of 17:55. Junior Ethan Harmon (40th, 18:10), sophomore Alique Valeras (58th, 18:42) and seniors Colby O’Brien (63rd, 18:54) and Jayden Stewart (71st, 19:07) rounded out the Tide’s scoring runners.
Bishop Guertin junior Ethan Fischer defended his D-I crown in 15:52.4 and Pinkerton went 2-3-4-7-8 to easily defend its title with 24 points. Keene (79), Exeter (130), Dover (201), Bedford (216), Portsmouth (219), Londonderry (220), Bishop Guertin (221), Nashua North (229) and Nashua South (237) rounded out the top 10 and all advanced to next Saturday’s Meet of Champions at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds.
“For a younger group, they definitely have great potential,” Concord boys head coach Zach Procek said. “We had some nice movement up in the pack today, relative to where we were at the Manchester Invitational (held at Derryfield Park on Sept. 19), just not as much as we needed. … It was a good season; of course, it’s bittersweet that it ends here. But sometimes that’s just the way the cards fall.”
With five of the team seven returning next year, plus some additions from Rundlett’s team that claimed the inaugural Middle School Meet of Champions title on Friday, there’s a bright future ahead.
“Looking at the younger guys on the team, Will breaking 18 for the first time, and comfortably so, and Alique with incredible momentum, only running on this course today for the second time and cutting tons of time, we have good momentum moving forward,” Procek said.