By Dave Irving
Thursday will mark the 47th running of the Capital Area Cross Country Championships, held once again at Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook. The weather looks great, the leaves are beautiful and cleared off the trails, and the acorns…are everywhere! There are some interesting storylines to follow this year, so let’s dive into the data.
The boys have the first varsity race of the afternoon. The team race looks to be tight, with defending champion St. Paul’s having a light advantage. They were the top area team at the Manchester Invitational, and have seemingly improved since then. Andrew Carroll is the 4th returning finisher, just ahead of his teammate Owen Gorenc. Add in Linus Krenkel and new addition Langston Williams, and they are certainly in the driver’s seat to take the top of the podium. Last year’s team runner-up Bow would love to claim their first Capital Area title, and they do look to be rounding into shape at the right time, led by Wyatt Worcester, Ian Sandhal, and Thomas Sargent. Home team Merrimack Valley would love to defend their turf, and is an almost identical team to Bow. MV nipped Bow at the Manchester Invite, while Bow won on a tie-breaker at a week day meet last Wednesday. Mychal Reynolds and Ben Geoffroy lead the Pride. Concord, only 6th last year, could just possibly run their way onto the podium behind the speed of Josiah Conley and freshman Spencer Clemans. Never count Concord out at Capital Area.
With defending champion Bocelli (now at PEA), the quest for a 4-time boys winner will have to be put on the back burner since Concord’s junior Josiah Conley is the favorite to burn the course up. Runner-up last year, he is continuing to look great this fall and will be the one to watch. Behind him is a contingent of strong runners who would love to provide an upset, including Newfound’s Colin Foster, Carroll and Gorenc of St. Paul’s, Daniel Dalbec of Kearsarge, or Conley’s teammate Clemans.
In typical Capital Area fashion, the girls varsity is the final race of the day. While Concord looks to be on an upward trajectory, it looks very likely that their win streak will end at a record-tying 11 in a row. With Hopkinton currently ranked 5th in the state, ordinarily you would think that the Hawks would be a shoe-in to add a 3rd Capital Area title to their repertoire. However! There is another local team that would like to claim the title of best in the region (for the 4th time), and that is St. Paul’s. Hopkinton and St. Paul’s already battled it out once this year at the Manchester Invitational, with the private school coming out on top by a mere 6 points. Hopkinton, however, had a substantially faster average time. Hopkinton’s speed up front versus St. Paul’s depth; it will be an interesting race to count the points as they cross. Hopkinton is led by defending champion Madeleine Lane, Shaylee Murdough, and Reece Bove, while St. Paul’s is lead by Aedyn Kourakos and an interchangeable squad of Brook Boyd, Mack Barrette, Olivia Blanchard, and Bella Friedman. After these two teams Concord (led by Quinn Doherty) may snag the final podium position. Shelly Smith is the 5th returner in the race, she may be the key, because chasing Concord are two teams looking for hardware at the Division 3 meet next week, Gilford and Newfound. Each seems to be fighting their own battles with injury and health, but a much improved Maria Tilley has been leading Gilford, while Emerald Briggs (the second returning runner), Ceili Irving, and Addie Alpers make a strong front three for Newfound. Look out for Newfound’s Charlotte Kaempfer, who is having a breakout year, to give the Bears the boost they need.
Individually, there is no reason to think that Lane won’t take the second step in her journey to become the first-ever 4-time winner of Capital Area. She’s not undefeated, but she’s pretty close with wins that include the Manchester Invitational and the Thetford Invite. After her it will come down to who is having the best day. Murdough could give Hopkinton a 1-2 punch, while Newfound’s Briggs could be right there as well. St. Paul’s Kourakos, Tilley of Gilford, Hannah Pawlowski of Bow, Doherty of Concord, Catherine Vierzen of Proctor, and Newfound’s Irving should all be looking for a top-10 finish.
