By Jared Pendak 
Valley News Staff Writer
Saturday, October 29, 2016
 
HANOVER HS LEBANON HS HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY
Manchester — At least for one year, the Coe-Brown Northwood Academy girls cross country team’s run of dominance is over.

Souhegan senior Madeleine Hunt won the NHIAA Division II championship race in 18 minutes, 15.4 seconds, and the Sabers took five of the top 23 spots for a 52-68 win over the Black Bears at Derryfield Park, ending Coe-Brown’s six-year reign. Hanover — which raced without one of its top runners in injured Elsa Nordstrom (ankle) — placed third with 115 points a year after finishing as the runner-up.

Coe-Brown did repeat on the boys side, besting Oyster River, 65-85, for its third straight title, and the Bobcats’ Patrick O’Brien (16:16.5) won the individual title for the second straight year.

It’s the first girls cross country title for the Sabers as Hunt moved up 31 spots and improved upon her 2015 state-meet time at the same course by nearly three minutes.

The Bears — whose six straight titles came immediately after Hanover won five in a row in the 2000s — graduated eight of its top 10 runners but, as usual, were still very much in contention. Coe-Brown placed five in the top 22, but no Black Bear finished better than eighth. That was senior Alli Pratt (19:11.3), who last year placed third and was 16 seconds faster.
 
“This is an experienced team, and it’s been a long time coming for this group,” said Souhegan coach Geoffrey Wilson. “Our top three have been strong all year, but today was all about our (Nos.) 4 and 5 runners and their ability to tighten the gap (with the top three).”

Despite missing Nordstrom, Hanover placed three in the top 21 and five in the top 42 in cool, damp conditions that seemed favorable compared with recent weather in the Upper Valley. Marauder sophomore Leila Trummel (19:27.0) and freshman Lucy Glueck (19:30.0) placed 11th and 13th, respectively, running side-by-side for much of the race before Milford’s Alex Matsis got between them at the end.

Trummel, who moved up three spots from last year, has helped guide Glueck while also challenging the rookie stride-for-stride this year.

“I’m still trying to beat her best time from when she was a freshman,” said Glueck, referencing Trummel’s top 2015 time of 19:04. “It didn’t happen this week. Maybe at the Meet of Champions.”

Hanover junior Sadie Lingelbach-Pierce, normally a running mate of Nordstrom’s, ran among the race’s second wave but was able to gain several spots during the final stretch. Emerging from the woods into the park’s open field approaching the finish line, she passed the No. 5 runners of both Souhegan and Coe-Brown to place 21st in 20:03.8.

“I like the last part of this course because you can see everyone in front of you pick out (who to try to pass),” Lingelbach-Pierce said. “Without Elsa here, we tried not to pressure ourselves and just focused getting in the top six (for a berth an next week’s Meet of Champions.”

Hanover trains on hilly terrain at Storrs Pond Recreation Area, preparing it well for the sizeable hill beginning around the one-mile mark at Derryfield. After overcoming that, it’s downhill and open exposure along the park’s grass, where most fans line up for the finish.

“It’s a very fair course, and most of the teams like us who train in the north aren’t caught off guard by the hill,” said Marauders coach Eric Picconi, who ran at Derryfield for Lebanon High in the mid-1990s. “The biggest trick here is coming out of the woods and, all of a sudden, you’re hearing a lot of verbal encouragement. It can be psychologically challenging; there are some mind games to deal with there.”

The Lebanon girls improved by three spots to 14th place, led by junior Grace Furlong (40th; 21:30.7). Sophomore Hannah Falcone (23:02.5) drifted to 80th after placing 34th a year ago, and freshman Maria Goodwin (101st; 23:58.5), junior Shelby Hanks (116th; 25:02.3) and Annabelle Stott (119th; 25:20.3) rounded off the Raiders’ scoring.

“Our girls are still a young team; we were pretty much going for (personal records) today,” said third-year Lebanon coach Kevin Lozeau. “Grace would have liked to have made Meet of Champions (top 25 individuals), but I think the conditions were a little tough.”

Hanover’s boys placed eighth, narrowly missing a berth at MOCs. The Marauders were led by junior Morgan Baughman, whose 14th-place time of 17:02.2 was a 13-spot improvement and nearly 26 seconds faster than last year. Senior Henry Mackall (48th; 18:03.4) posted his career-best at Derryfield, while Joseph Jacobs (62nd; 18:29.3), Jack Lynch (72nd; 18:39.7) and Gregory Phillips (75th; 18:43.2) were also in the running for Hanover.

Lebanon’s boys were 12th, led by junior Jake Willeman’s 34th-place time of 17:50.5. Sophomore Noah McIntire (52nd; 18:12.1) eclipsed his overall personal best by nearly 30 seconds, followed by teammates Raphael Harriman (56th; 18:18.2), Edward Bieszczad (66th; 18:34.0) and Peter Maslan (86th; 18:50.4).

Lozeau enjoyed having about 35 total athletes this season, roughly half of whom continue to run during the indoor and/or outdoor track and field seasons. The rest use cross country as a vehicle to stay fit for other sports, a tendency Lozeau would like to see shift.

Lozeau, a former collegiate runner, took over the Raiders’ indoor and outdoor track teams four years ago and the cross country program three years ago.

“You’d like to see a culture where more of the kids are running year-round. It makes it a lot easier for them to get better,” Lozeau said. “Now that I’m coaching all three, I’m starting to see it a little bit more.”

Next Saturday’s Meet of Champions will be staged at Nashua’s Mine Falls Park.

Monadnock, Campbell Prevail in D-III: The Monadnock boys team edged defending champion Kearsarge and Campbell’s girls were 21 points better than runner-up White Mountains in the NHIAA Division III championship races at Derryfield.

Monadnock’s James Elmour won the boys race in 16:36, while the Cougars’ Aidan Brooks (fifth; 16:58.8) and Andrew Shepherd (10th; 17:03.7) placed in the top 10.

Mascoma’s boys raced four, one shy of the minimum for a team score. Sophomore Justin Andrew was 78th in 19:25.2, senior Devin Duhaime was 154th in 22:56.9, Lincoln Tracey placed 160th in 23:43.9 and Henry Clough was one spot behind in 23:53.3 for the Royals.

Mascoma ran three and Newport two in the girls race, which was claimed by Alice Riley (19:56.9) of 10th-place Belmont.

The Royals’ Olivia Salamy (106th; 25:56.8), Madison Merrihew (133rd; 28:59.4) and Paxton Morley (142nd; 30:36.4) cracked the race’s top 150, as did the Tigers’ Claudia Biron (135th; 29:05.4) and Allison Howald (150th; 32:55.3).

Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.