Andover’s first ever Cross Country team wrapped up its season in Londonderry, New Hampshire at the 2013 New Hampshire Middle School Cross Country Championships. The 40th running of this championship saw 90 teams and over 2,900 middle school distance runners come from all corners of the state to compete. It was a spectacular day to race.
The event features 10 races. Four of them are the Large School and Small School Championship races for boys and for girls. These races are for up to the seven best runners from each team to compete for the state championship. The other six races are for all the remaining runners, divided into fifth and sixth grade, seventh grade, and eighth grade, each for boys and for girls.
The inaugural Andover team was made up of David Reynolds, Matthew Reynolds, Noah Newton, and Cyrus King. They entered the Small School State Championship. The race had 245 participants from 41 teams. The athletes lined up with four runners from each team on the starting line and any remaining team mates right behind them.
To accommodate all the runners, the starting line is 100 yards wide. When the gun goes off, the runners run 600 yards to squeeze onto a trail 10 feet wide. It’s quite a stampede.
Andover was led into the woods by David Reynolds, followed by Matt Reynolds, Noah Newton, and Cyrus King. Once onto the trails, the runners settled into a good pace. In a meet so large, almost all two miles of the trails are lined with cheering friends and family. The Andover team was a little intimidated by the constant cheering but ran really well.
The team was led by David Reynolds, finishing 60th in a strong effort. He was followed by Matthew Reynolds and Noah Newton working hard together to finish 140th and 142nd respectively. Cyrus King rounded out a very successful day with his best run of the year by over a minute.
It was a fantastic finish to a very successful first year of Cross Country at AE/MS. This season saw AE/MS field a full team in two out of three meets. All the runners improved steadily in training and in each race. We made friends at other schools and appreciated the support of all of our competitors.
The consensus of all who participated was that they can’t wait to do it again next year.