The story of the day at the 43rd Manchester Invitational was not necessarily the hot racing, but the heat itself. As the day wore on, 
the mercury certainly rose and had an effect on the athletes and their approaches to the challenge that is Derryfield Park. Most athletes who chose to lay back the first mile, essentially shortening their races, performed better than those who did the opposite. All in all however, this was still the Manchester Invitational, and it dd not disappoint! With the new addition of the JV “C” Race as well as the Open Race, MI truly is a festival for Cross Country. Despite the challenge of the heat, the celebrating our sport through competition truly won out! Congrats to all!
Full Results – Courtesy of Millennium Running
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Girls Small School
As predicted, this team race developed into South Kingstown, RI v. Coe-Brown. While South Kingstown benefited from Eleanor Lawler’s individual win, it was Coe-Brown which came out as the victor placing two in the top 6 and three in the top 20 to win 76 to 112. Through three runners, the meet was only a 4 point difference, as the Lady Bears displayed their mix of youth and experience led by a freshman, senior and sophomore in Addison Cox (5th, 20:04), Eleanor McDonough (6th, 20:14), and Abigail O’Connor (17th, 21:01). But it truly came down to each team’s fourth and fifth runners, as Coe-Brown’s senior Sarah Dupuis (21:38) and freshman Ella Malone (21:54), both came in front of South Kingstown’s fourth. Led by Leila Trummel’s 7th place (20:28) and great packing, Hanover placed a close 3rd, only 1 points away from South Kingstown. Notably, off the strength of their top three within 15 seconds of one another, Campbell wasn’t too far behind in fourth with 186 points.
As predicted Lawler won in 18:38 going away. Top NH finishers included Cox, McDonough, and Trummell. Belmont’s Alice Riley (20:33) and Kearsarge’s Mya Dubie (20:38) cracked the top 10, placing 9th and 10th respectively.
Boys Small School
In one of the races of the day, Coe-Brown’s Evan Tanguay, laying back over the first mile, made a valiant effort for the individual win. He and eventual winner Riley Fenoff from Danville School in Vermont, battled over the hills that is the second mile with Tanguay building a bit of a lead. But it was not enough, as Fenoff caught Tanguay on the final straight to win 16:16 to 16:23. Campbell’s Jeffrey Allen placed 4th, Kingswood’s Wyatt Pooler was 6th, Windham’s Spenser Sawyer was 7th, John Stark’s Brandon Langdon placed 9th, and Monadnock’s Ty
ler Hebert placed 10th to round out the top 10.
With an influx of youth, Coe-Brown won over Kearsarge, Harwood, and Barrington. Although Tanguay is a senior, he was supported by freshmen Luke Tkaczyk (12th, 17:33) and Wyatt Mackey (17th, 17:38). Sophomore Dawson Dubois placed 20th and junior Gavin Lewis placed 27th. It should be noted, D3 Kearsarge sported an incredible pack time of 12 seconds (were they tempo’ing)!!!
Girls Large School 
Placing 8 in the top 10, the Granite State certainly dominated this race from an individual perspective. Turning in yet another stellar performance and beating the heat, Exeter’s Jackie Gaughan won in 17:57. She fended off a strong effort by Milford’s Rebecca Durham, who broke through to place 2nd in 18:16. West’s Julia Robitaille also beat the heat to place 3rd in 18:43. Coming off early season injury, BG’s Caroline Fischer placed 4th in 19:22. Souhegan Jane Leighton outlasted OR’s Danielle Slavin to place 5th both in 19:35. BG’s C. Towle placed 8th (19:40), Pinkerton’s Meghan Cross was 9th (19:47) and Con-Val’s Rachel Hurley placed 10th (19:51).
In a very close battle that saw the top 3 team’s separated by only 24 points, it was Vermont’s Champlain Valley defending its title totaling 130 points. NH#2 Bishop Guertin placed a very close second with 143 beating Souhegan by only 11 points to claim top NH honors. The Lady Cardinals were led by the Carolines, Fischer and Towle, but it was their third and fourth runners, Haley Schmitt and Kate Messer who beat Souhegan’s 3rd and Pinkerton‘s 2nd that proved to be the difference. By the way, the preview depicted this as a NH v. Vermont showdown with both states being represented each by their top 5 ranked schools. Scoring akin to individuals in a dual meet, NH scored 26 points to Vermont’s 33 points. To be continued @ New Englands!!! 🙂
Boys Large School 
Defending champs Concord (NH #1) raced admirably despite the heat to place 3rd overall with 100 points. It was Rhode Island’s Bishop Hendricken by virtue of an incredible pack time of 6 seconds between 16:34 (Jack McMahon 8th) and 16:40 (Luke Henseler 12th), winning the marquee race at Manchester Invitational. Lowell, MA, which placed two in the top 6 was second with 80 points.
Demonstrating great patience, the Crimson Tide hung back the first mile and attacked over the hills. Junior Forest Mackenzie led the way as the top NH finisher to place 4th in 16:31. Eli Boesch-Dining placed 15th in 16:41 and Nate Nichols was 21st in 16:51. Senior Oliver Spencer and sophomore David Cook rounded out Concord’s top five in 17:03 and 17:11 respectively. Oyster River (NH #3) placed 5th while Nashua North (NH #4) placed 10th.
Individually, it was Manchester, CT’s Joe Pearl winning with a time of 16:09. Other notable NH finishers in this race included Oyster River’s Kieran Murphy (10th, 16:39), MV’s David Reynolds (18th, 16:45), and Pinkerton’s Joseph Gagnon (24th, 16:56).
Girls JV “B”
Souhegan won 43-63 over defending champ Champlain Valley. Madeline Barretto (2nd, 22:14) and Alissa Reitter (3rd, 22:26) led the Lady Sabers. Bedford was 3rd, led by Delaney Flanagan (22:36) and Allison O’Neill (22:40) who placed 6th and 9th respectively. Oyster River placed 4th with 161 points and were led by Laurel Gordon (23:21) and Grace Henry (23:39).
Boys JV “B”
Returning to his old form, Oyster River’s Henry Keegan won going away in 17:05. Like the Large School Race, Bishop Hendricken won easily, placing 6 in the top ten, with Concord placing 3rd behind Lowell, MA. Concord was led by last year’s frosh champ, Ryan Devine, who placed 6th overall in 17:41.
Girls Freshmen 
For the second consecutive year, NH boasts the freshman individual champ in Nashua South’s Cali Coffin, who won comfortably in 12:51. Morgane Orcutt (Concord) placed 2nd in 13:45, Molly McGaffigan (Pinkerton) was 3rd in 14:00, Morgan Nault (Memorial) was 4th in 14:07 with Portsmouth’s Angela Hagstrom placing 5th in 14:22. Bedford won as a team by only 7 points over Portsmouth, 43-50. South was third with 64 points.
Boys Freshmen
Londonderry’s William Heenan broke the course record to win in 11:10! He was followed close behind by teammate Ryan Young (11:17). Concord’s Brayden Kearns was 4th in 11:32 with another Lancer, Matt Griffin placing 6th in 11:37. Londonderry was also the team champ with 56 points over Essex, Vermont (71 points) and Concord (115 points).
