The Coe-Brown girls’ cross country dynasty that’s won six straight Division II titles, five straight Meet of Champions titles and finished in the top three in the last five New England Cross Country Championships, is likely over.
Gone are the classes of 2015 and ’16 that were part of the Bears’ New England title and trip to the national high school championships in 2013.
But newcomers to the Coe-Brown girls’ cross country team don’t necessarily know all of that history; what they have is raw talent. And that’s the way Coach Brent Tkaczyk likes it.
“This year we are a different type of team where there are a lot of new kids to the sport. This is whole different kind of culture,” said Tkaczyk, who has been with the team for 18 years and coaches alongside Tim Cox, who is in his 17th season.
For most of the newcomers on the roster, this season is their introduction to the sport, and they are learning the types of training necessary to compete.
“(The freshmen) don’t know the names of any of the kids who graduated. They don’t know (the history). It’s a healthy way to be. They’re just kids who are showing up to run. . . . So many of them just aren’t ready for training yet (as middle schoolers). It’s really interesting what these kids bring to the table,” said Tkaczyk, adding that, “it reminds me a lot of my earlier teams when they’re just learning about the different kinds of running shoes, different work outs, how to warm up.”
That being said, the girls’ team has strong returning talent. With depth that few teams in New England, let alone New Hampshire, could match, many varsity-caliber underclassmen runners spent additional time on JV. The senior class held six of the seven varsity spots and the No. 8 and No. 9 spots last season.
Senior Alli Pratt – who has been training with the varsity runners since her freshman year – finished fourth in D-II in 2014 and third in D-II last season, and is the only varsity regular from last season to return. Junior Sarah Dupuis, who finished 19th in D-II last year (good enough to qualify individually for Meet of Champions) wasn’t always a lock for a top seven spot. Junior Elly McDonough occasionally ran varsity and finished second at the JV State Championships, behind teammate Megan Spainhower, a senior last year.
“Elly was right on that cusp of making varsity last year . . . She’s the emotional heart of the team. Elly is really tough and really driven to be part of this team. It’s important to her to help this team be at their best,” Tkaczyk said. “Same with Alli (Pratt), she’s certainly our leader.”
Junior Raven Barnes “was someone knocking on the (varsity) door” in past seasons, according to Tkaczyk and senior Hannah Daly, who transferred to Coe-Brown as a junior and played soccer last fall, are also likely to be in the top seven. Junior Sydney Carney, sophomore Autumn Graham and freshman Abigail O’Connor are also possible top seven runners.
Hanover and Souhegan are the two favorites on the girls’ side of D-II while on paper Coe-Brown could be third, but as Tkaczyk said, “we are focused on goals for each week. In October we will run at the (D-II) State Meet to the best of our ability.”
The boys’ team on the other hand, with back-to-back D-II titles under its belt, is looking to start a dynasty of its own. In 2014 the Bears won without any seniors and no clear individual frontrunner, but finished with five runners in the top 17 to decisively win the D-II crown and used a similar strategy last year, placing all seven runners in the top 24, all finishing within 27 seconds of each other.
Two runners from that group graduated, but the Bears’ return seniors Zach (seventh in D-II last year) and Tanner Richards (12th) and junior Evan Tanguay (11th), last year’s top three, as well as Davio Deluca (21st) and River Groves (24th). Veteran senior runners Tristan Jardon, Chris Pratt and Jacob Snow are likely candidates for the remaining two varsity positions.
All are strong runners, but there’s no clear No. 1 and the top seven order could change frequently, as the case has been in the past two title runs.
Coaches also commented on a talented freshman class that won’t likely break into the top seven this season, but could be a force in years to come.
Oyster River and Coe-Brown are the two overwhelming favorites for the D-II crown this year with other teams a distant third, but the Bear boys aren’t yet the dominant force that the girls have been in past years.
“Winning (D-II) is definitely our primary goal…but we want to go after MOC and beyond and make our mark,” Tkaczyk said. “They haven’t done as well in the second part of the postseason, (in the past). They were just happy to make it to New Englands,” said Tkacyzk, adding that, “all it takes is some great young athletes to come in (for other teams) and start challenging us (in D-II). We’re going to need to have one or two guys step up to bring (the team) to the next level.”
The Bears finished fifth at MOC last year and sixth in 2014, narrowly qualifying for New Englands (the top six teams from New Hampshire qualify) and want to better their MOC and New Englands finishes (18th in 2015, 24th in 2014).