The second month of Cross Country started with some new members for the boys team. Lagan Salathe and Elliot Norris joined before our meet at Merrimack Valley. Lagan joined the team in Merrimack Valley and jumped right into the top 5. Elliot watched at Merrimack Valley then ran his first race at Hopkinton and joined Lagan in the top 5.
The Merrimack Valley meet ended up being a lot bigger than even the MV hosts had expected. There were 8 teams: Merrimack Valley, Andover, Bow, Kearsarge, Hopkinton, Winnisquam, Gilford and Henniker.
The girls race started things off with Andover running really well. At one mile, Sophia Reynolds had settled into the lead group with talented runners from Merrimack Valley and Hopkinton. The rest of the Andover girls ran together a little back led by Brynne Makechnie and Morganne Budgett. As the girls emerged from the woods for the final time Sophia was behind but with 300 meters to go started to move up. With 150 meters to go she had pulled even with the runners from Merrimack Valley and Hopkinton. The three of them battled back and fourth to the finish line with Sophia edging them out for the win.
Brynne was the next Andover finisher having a fantastic day running her second mile 45 seconds faster than her first. Morganne was third in a breakout performance. Rounding out the team were Sasha Mackenzie, Lily Menard and Alexis Plante. Everyone showed steady improvement.
The boys team started off strong in the field of 116 lead by Cyrus King, Jesse Niemeyer, and Jeremy Johnson finishing the first mile in less than 8 minutes. Newcomer Lagan Salathe jumped into the middle of the team with Caleb Warzocha, Aaron Weeks and Colin Coolidge and ran a strong race. The second mile saw all the boys move up with Jesse, Cyrus, Jeremy, Lagan, Colin, Caleb, and Aaron running a faster second mile than the first. The whole top seven running a negative split is a fantastic accomplishment and a smartly run race.
Logan Smith ran a strong race and outkicked a Bow runner that he had paced with for most of the second mile. Tyler Champagne, Fenn Davis, and River Turnbull showed solid improvement running well together.
The team traveled to Hopkinton for an Invitational near the Blue Gate of the Fairgrounds. This was another big meet to help us get ready for States. Sophia and Brynne lead the way again with Sophia taking the overall win. It was another great team effort with Sophia, Brynne, Sasha, and Alex all had run lifetime bests on the Hopkinton course.
The boys had a breakthrough as a team in Hopkinton. Jesse, Cyrus, Jeremy, Lagan, and Elliot all running together the whole way. Jeremy led the team through halfway point with everyone else in the top 5 within 30 seconds. At the finish Jesse lead the way in 15:52 followed by Cyrus, Jeremy, Lagan, and Elliot. The time between our first and fifth runners was an exceptional 1:34.
Both teams have worked hard and the improvement was really starting to show by the time we hosted Shaker Road on the Nordic Trails at Proctor Ski area. To up the level of fun, the AE/MS Soccer team helped manage the race and some members jumped into the race too.
Sophia and Brynne led the way finishing first and second. Shaker Road had the next 7 spots before Sasha, Lily, Morganne, Maura, and Alex arrived. Shaker Road won the meet 25 to 36 on the strength of their third through ninth pack running.
Alex ran her best race of the year shaving several minutes off her time despite running the toughest course of the year.
The boys race was really close. Shaker Road took first, Cyrus came in second, then Shaker Road, then Jesse, then two Shaker Road runners followed by Jeremy, Eliot, and Lagan. Shaker Road got the next 3three spots to edge Andover 25 to 30. Caleb and Colin completed the top seven for Andover followed by strong runs by Aaron and Tyler. Fenn was edged out by Logan in a sprint to the line and River finished to a strong ovation from the crowd.
Out last meet before the State meet was at Kearsarge with Bow and Kearsarge. The team was rewarded for all their hard work. All the girls ran Lifetime Personal Best times on the Kearsarge Course. The boys followed suit with everyone having either a Lifetime or Season’s best.
The teams have one more week of practice before the State meet October 24 in Londonderry. Andover will have a girls and boys team in the Championship races for the first time. We will also have several boys running in the sixth grade race. It should be an exciting day. The State meet is attended by 55 teams from all of New Hampshire. There are over 2,500 middle school runners competing in 10 races starting at 11:30 AM and wrapping up with Championship races starting at 2:30 PM.