PENACOOK – The frigid temperatures and windy conditions were not ideal for a fall cross country race, but for area runners looking to go deep into the approaching championship season, Tuesday’s 42nd edition of the Capital Area Cross Country Championship provided one last opportunity to prepare for the NHIAA Division Championships on Oct. 27.
Forest MacKenzie defended his Capital Area crown and set a new course record at Merrimack Valley High School, finishing in 15 minutes, 56 seconds to lead the Concord boys to their third straight Capital Area title, while the Concord girls survived a scare from Division III Hopkinton to win their seventh consecutive area crown.
Merrimack Valley’s Sophia Reynolds smashed the course record, clocking an 18:22 and holding off the defending champion, Kearsarge’s Mya Dube (18:41), in the girls’ race.
The Tide boys didn’t have much trouble securing a third title, taking seven of the top nine spots in the race to tally 19 points.
MV’s David Reynolds (second, 16:09) led a tight pack of nine through the first mile, slightly ahead of MacKenzie and Concord’s Eli Boesch-Dining (third, 16:12), but MacKenzie moved ahead for good shortly into the second mile.
“If you’re going to make a move, you’ve got to make it hard,” said MacKenzie, a senior. “I was really angry this whole week because I felt like I had been underperforming since I was injured, so I had some pent-up aggression. It’s championship season, it’s title-defending season. I’ve got to run with a bit of a chip on my shoulder and prove myself.”
MacKenzie’s teammates also proved themselves, with Aidan O’Hern (16:25), Eben Bragg (16:28), David Cook (16:36) and Ryan Devine (16:37) sweeping fourth through seventh place, while Brayden Kearns (16:58) finished ninth.
“Our guys are peaking at the right time,” MacKenzie said. “We’re going to keep grinding it out and enjoying it.”
“The narrative of this season has been guys turning the corner in terms of getting their race rhythm and closing the spread (between first and seventh runners),” Concord coach Tristan Black-Ingersoll said. “Their hard work has turned them into top guys. Recognizing that has been valuable to them.”
MacKenzie added, “You can’t avoid this type of weather (in end-of-season championship meets). You’ve got to embrace it and love the grind. Weather will be a lot worse than this come November and December.”
The Concord boys have only lost to one team this season – Rhode Island’s Bishop Hendricken, the No. 4 team in the country.
Although the Concord girls only bested Hopkinton by six points, 52-58, the Tide girls also have been turning heads this season, with a varsity team comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores.
Belmont’s Alice Riley (19:26) edged Concord sophomore Morgane Orcutt for third in a photo finish, while senior Sarah Zarakotas (11th, 20:33), freshman Katherine Kennedy (15th, 20:55), sophomores Katie Watt (16th, 20:56) and Hannah Willette (17th, 20:58), freshman Abby Goulas (18th, 21:05) and junior Ally Leuci (19th, 21:11) rounded out the champion team.
“Today was great to see them work together more as a pack and use each other to get through the race,” Concord coach Ally Davis said.
“We definitely don’t want our season to be over now, or even after states,” said Zarakotas, whose team is hoping to advance to the Meet of Champions via a top-seven finish in the Division I Championship. “We’re ready to show everyone what we have. We’ve been training really hard.”
“It’s a big jump (for the younger athletes),” Orcutt said, “but its nice to have really good competition.”
Bow (89 points) finished second on the boys’ side, the best Capital Area finish for the Falcons since they finished second in 2004, behind strong races from Kirpal Demian (12th, 17:19), Colin Lessard (13th, 17:27), Sam Berube (19th, 17:46), Gabe Neff (23rd, 17:57) and Ben Neff (30th, 18:17).
Kearsarge (101) finished third behind Ben Boulton (15th, 17:37), Trevor Pauling (20th, 17:47), Ed Stowell (22nd, 17:56), Tom Lick (25th, 18:02) and Aidan Kellogg (29th, 18:16).
St. Paul’s (117) and Winnisquam (131), led by Kyle Mann (16th, 17:43), Rick Fournier (17th, 17:45) and Dylan Robert (24th, 18:00), rounded out the top five.
Matt Reynolds (11th, 17:13) helped twin brother David lead hosts Merrimack Valley (133) to sixth.
Simon Page (27th, 18:15) led Hopkinton (172) to seventh, while Brandon Langdon (10th, 17:03) paced John Stark (236) to eighth.
Bishop Brady (251), Gilford (303), Prospect Mountain (309), Belmont (313), Newfound (330), Inter-Lakes (376) and Pembroke (408) rounded out the boys’ team scores.
The Hopkinton girls’ were led by freshman Anna O’Reilly (sixth, 20:04) and Cailey Stockwell (eighth, 20:22), Emma Rothe (ninth, 20:27), Sydney Stockwell (20th, 21:27) and Cate Westbrook (25th, 22:06), who showed the Hawks are a threat to win the D-III title.
MV (92) finished third behind Sophia Reynolds’s victory, with Emma York (seventh, 20:10), Madisyn Garrity (27th, 22:07), Tristan Beyer (30th, 22:19) and Katherine Butt (40th, 23:28) also running strong races.
“I was able to execute our race plan perfectly,” Reynolds said. “It all worked out pretty well.”
Dube and Jenna Bears (14th, 20:48) led Kearsrage (115) to fourth, while Bow (138), led by Sarah Ciotti (23rd (21:43), finished fifth.
John Stark (149), Belmont (190), Winnisquam (191) and Pembroke (249) rounded out the girls’ team scores.
Brianna Langdon (21st, 21:34) and Madison McDonald (24th, 21:52) led John Stark and Faith Gosselin (12th, 20:44) paced Winnisquam.
All three NHIAA Division Championship meets will be on Oct. 27 at Derryfield Park in Manchester, with the Meet of Champions (Nov. 3) and New Englands (Nov. 10) to follow.