By Mike Smith
On a hot and humid day, the Jamie Martin Invite got the season off to a smoking hot start. With West’s Julia Robitialle in the girl’s race and Pelham’s D2 superkid Cam Starr and Campbell’s D3 phenom Jeffrey Allen, the racing and times were sure to be fast.
The girl’s race got going at 4:15, with Robitaille, ConVal’s Claire Ververka and Rachel Hurley, Mascenic’s Samantha Bilodeau right to the front. Following in the second pack was Julia’s sister Corrine, Mya Dube of Kearsarge, Kay Partridge of Hollis/Brookline and Caitlin Callinan of Campbell. Robitaille wasted no time opening a gap, with Ververka and Hurley hanging on tight through the mile. However coming back to the spectators, Robitaille had a substantial gap, pulling away to win this one in 18 minutes, 4 seconds; 1:42 up on second place Ververka. Corrine Robitaille followed, with Dubie and Hurley rounding out the top five.
The ConVal girls ran away with this one, 46 to Campbell’s 72, with three in the top 10 and four in the top 14.
In the boy’s race, Starr and Allen asserted themselves upfront right away, with Allen leading into the wooded trails of X Park. Behind the two were Spenser Sawyer and Robby St. Laurent of Windham, Dakota Somero of Mascenic, and Kenny Corsetti of Hollis Brookline. A phalanx of runners from Mascenic, Kearsarge and Campbell made up the bulk of the second group and it was obvious we were seeing an end of season D3 matchup in the making. It was also obvious that Allen and Starr were testing each other out and the real racing began after the mile mark.
Out on the paved loop we saw a decisive change as the runners came back to the 2 mile mark. Starr was no longer on the course, leaving Allen in control and Sawyer gamely giving chase. In the end Allen would win in 16 minutes, 30 seconds, 17 seconds up on second finisher Spenser. Corsetti would split teammates with St. Laurent in fourth and Somero in fifth.
Mascenic would win this one, 54 to 63 over Kearsarge. Mascenic had 5 in the top 18, with Kearsarge having 5 in the top 24. The surprise of the meet was Campbell, finishing third with 88 points and five in the top 26.
And when the dust finally settled, and Mascenic beat Kearsarge on the course, but Kearsarge turned the tables getting to the Epping Market Basket first.
- The last time Mascenic beat Kearsarge to win the Jamie Martin Invitational, the Vikings lost to the Cougars at Derryfield Park in the State Championships by one point. We’ll have to stay tuned in to see how this one will turn out.
