The start of the school year means the start of cross country. Andover’s third season of cross country should be one of breakout performances from a group of dedicated athletes. The girls and boys teams each have four returning members joined by nine first-time runners. This year marks the first time we have two complete teams with seven runners or more on each team.
As a team, we recognize our athletes with wristbands for significant accomplishments. The first is how ready they are for the season. We had three runners start practice able to run the full race distance: Sophia Reynolds, Brynne Makechnie, and Jeremy Johnson. To recognize that effort they received Gold 2-Miler wristbands.
The second accomplishment is finishing your first meet, which is recognized with a blue and white team wristband. Runners who improve on their best time for a given course also receive a Personal Best wristband. The last award is to recognize everyone as they are able to run the full race distance during the season. This is recognized with a Silver 2-Miler wristband.
The season got started on September 9 at Kearsarge with Merrimack Valley and Hopkinton. The girls kicked off the season with strong runs from Sophia Reynolds and Brynne Makechnie. Both ran personal bests on the technical Kearsarge course. Sophia improved her best by 45 seconds, leading the way as the overall winner. Brynne improved by two and a half minutes to take fourth.
Sasha Mackenzie, Maura Kelly, Morganne Budgett, and Lily Menard ran as a group and worked hard, all beating Kearsarge’s fifth runner to seal third place in the meet, beating Kearsarge for the second time in a row.
Rounding out the Andover performance was Alexis Plante, improving her best Kearsarge time by a minute despite stopping in the woods to help an injured runner from another team.
The boys had their best team effort ever. The top three of Jesse Neimeyer, Cyrus King, and Jeremy Johnson, running within 30 seconds of each other, were followed by Colin Coolidge and Caleb Warzocha to edge out Merrimack Valley for third in the meet. This marks the first time the Andover Boys have beaten another team in a meet.
Cyrus and Colin improved their personal bests at Kearsarge significantly. Logan Smith, Aaron Weeks, Tyler Champagne, Fenn Davis, and River Turnbull completed a total team effort with strong runs of their own.
At Kearsarge, Personal Best wristbands were awarded to Sophia, Brynne, Alex, Cyrus, and Colin. Colin also earned his Silver 2-Miler.
The teams then travelled to Concord’s White Park on September 15 to meet with Rundlett, Bow, Winnesquam, Merrimack Valley, Hopkinton, and Kearsarge. The meet was an opportunity to get used to a large field similar to the State meet. All the kids rose to the occasion, getting off to a fast start and avoiding tight spots on the course.
The girls race had nearly 100 athletes. Sophia kicked things off by bolting to the lead right at the gun to avoid the crushing left turn between a tree and the duck pond. She was closely followed by Brynne and Sasha in good position. Lily, Morganne, and Maura also avoided getting stuck in the crowd and got around the first lap in great position.
On the second lap, everyone held their positions, and Sophia held off a late charge from Merrimack Valley’s lead runner for her second win of the season. Everyone improved on their performances in the first meet.
The boys race had around 140 athletes and got started shortly after the girls wrapped up. Cyrus, Jessie, and Jeremy rushed to the front to avoid traffic at the first turn. Colin, Caleb, Aaron, Logan, Tyler, and Fenn started equally strong, avoiding some fallen competitors getting around the duck pond.
Cyrus led the way for Andover with his best ever performance. Jesse and Jeremy ran within 30 seconds of each other, and Colin, Caleb, Aaron, Logan, Tyler, and Fenn settled into a pack and worked together for the whole race.
Since this was our first visit to the White Park course, there were no personal best wristbands available. However, Sasha, Cyrus, and Jesse all earned their 2-Miler wristbands for running the whole course without stopping.
The season continued with meets at Merrimack Valley and Hopkinton in September. Then in October we have a home meet on Wednesday the 7th at the Proctor Ski Area followed by a return trip to Kearsarge.
The season ends on Saturday, October 24, with the State Championships featuring 10 races for over 2,500 middle school runners. Races start at 11:30 AM at Londonderry High School. The Small School State Championship for girls should start around 2:30 PM, with the boys following.