It certainly was a hot one yesterday both literally and figuratively. New Hampshire was indeed the hot state at the 40th Manchester Invitational. NH teams won 4 of the 5 varsity races, and 6 of the 9 total races contested! Individually, a Granite Stater won every race but one!!! Congratulations to all! To access results furnished by LancerTiming, click on the race title. Special Thanks to Dave Scannell for the 1000 pics he took!
Kristie Schoffield wins in her first race at Derryfield! How many NH cross country runners can say that. Matter of fact, NH swept the first 4 places. Surprise of the day though was Merrimack’s big team win in this division. Benefitting for tight packing, they edged Conard of Connecticut by 6 points!!!
Pinkerton picked up a big win over strong New England teams, William Hall (CT), South Burlington (CT), and Bishop Hendricken (RI). The Long Red Line employed a 34 second pack time to seal the win. In what was the fastest race of the day, Eli Moskowitz (Souhegan) solidified his position as NH’s majordomo of the hills and trails by dropping the fastest time of the day, 15:42. Moskowitz wasn’t the only fast Granite Stater, Justin Carbone (Exeter) also ran a blazing early season time of 16:06.
Coe-Brown placed three in the top 6 and 6 in the top 20 to win the Elite race over Champlain Valley, Vt. The early candidate for NH’s most improved team of the year has to be Concord, who placed a close 3rd, edging out a very strong Winnacunnet team. Cassie Shea led the Tide’s push. Morgan Sansing (Pinkerton) pulled away from Hanna Parker (Coe-Brown) over the last 800 or so meters to bring home the individual in a very fast 18:54. She was one of only 2 girls to break the 19:00 barrier at Derryfield on the day.
Maegan Doody (Oyster River) was the story of this race, striding home in what looked like an easy 18:35, the fastest time of the day. Greely of Maine took the team victory as out-of-staters took the top 4 team places. Windham, NH was the top NH team placing 5th.
Coe-Brown and Oyster River battled for the second consecutive week. While OR placed 2 ahead of CBNA’s 1st, the Bears packing once again proved to be the solution with a spread of 35 seconds between their top 5 scorers and placing their top 4 in the first 16 places. After battling with pre-race favorite Sam Nishi (Harwood, Vt), Oyster River’s Patrick O’Brien pulled away over the final 600 meters to take the win in 16:21.
Bishop Hendricken dominated the race placing 6 in the top 10. Pinkerton was the top NH team finisher, with Calvin Graves leading the way by placing 2nd in 17:23.
Essex, Vt took the title by 5 points over fellow Vermont power Champlain Valley. Souhegan was the top NH team placing 4th. Coe-Brown’s Aurora Goodwin and Megan Spainhower raced each other over the last mile, with the senior, Goodwin taking the win with both finishing in 21:34.
Concord boys won by over 50 points led by Spencer Oliver’s winning performance in 11:29 over the 2.1 mile course.
Coe-Brown girls won by over 40 points led by Ahna McCusker’s winning time of 13:33 over the 2.1 mile course.
