Andover Cross Country is literally off and running in its second year. We have 13 runners this year: seven girls and six boys. We have six meets, culminating with the State Championships on Saturday, October 18, in Londonderry.
The boys are led by returning eighth graders David and Matthew Reynolds, along with Cyrus King, Colin Coolidge, River Turnbull, and Tyler Champagne.
The girls are led by Sophia Reynolds, Brynne Makechnie, Alexis Geyer, Alex Plante, Madison Colby, Cassidy Poroso, and Sasha Mackenzie.
victory for AE/MS Cross Country.
The teams started their season on September 10 at Kearsarge Middle School. There were four other teams at the meet: Kearsarge, Merrimack Valley, Hopkinton, and Great Brook. The race was two miles, consisting of two one-mile laps of fast road and grass with some technical trail.
The girls raced first. Sophia, Brynne, Alex, Alexis, Madison, and Cassidy toed the line in a field of 45 girls. Sophia started strong and was in the lead group heading into the woods. Brynne, Alex, Alexis, Madison, and Cassidy settled into the pack.
When the girls came out of the woods after the first lap, Sophia was in the top 10, Brynne was in the top 20, and Alex, Alexis, Madison, and Cassidy were working together and enjoying the Kearsarge trail. At the finish Sophia, was in sixth place in 15 minutes, 35 seconds, beating Andover’s best time on the Kearsarge course by almost two minutes. Brynne came next, in 19th place, followed by Alex, Alexis, Madison, and Cassidy.
In the boys race, Andover sent David, Matthew, Cyrus, Colin, and River to the line in the field of 38 boys. At the gun, the boys took off down the road and into the woods.
David emerged from the woods looking great and 30 meters clear of the competition. Matt was close behind, in a chase group of five, followed by Cyrus, Colin, and River.
Heading into the woods for the second lap, David pulled further away and came around to close out a dominant race in 12 minutes, 35 seconds (41 seconds ahead of second place) for Andover’s first-ever individual victory. It was also Andover’s best time ever on the Kearsarge course, by 40 seconds.
Matt finished in the chase group for sixth place. He was followed by Cyrus and then later by Colin and River, finishing a strong day for Andover.
Our first meet provided several firsts for the Andover team:
- We had a full team for boys and girls.
- We had an individual winner in a meet.
- We had a school record on the Kearsarge course for both boys and girls.
- Everyone ran their personal best on the Kearsarge course, despite it being about 50 meters longer than last year.
After the first meet, the team welcomed Tyler Champagne and Sasha Mackenzie heading into a meet at the Shaker Road School. The team is excited and ready to have a great season.