JV State Championship Meet Hub
Congratulations to Oyster River XC as they swept the D2/D3 JV State Championships. They swept in every which way as a team and individuals. The girls began the mid week afternoon meeting on a blustery cold day. Immediately Eleanora Gelsey Drees took to the front along with teammate Corina Sietz. And there they remained only extending their lead over the 5k course with Gelsey Drees winning in 21:27 and Sietz claiming 2nd in 22:29. The team competition was much closer! Defending champs, led by freshmen trio of Sarah Hoesch, Natalie Stern and Brenna Curley ran together and finished together taking places 3-4-5. Souhegan’s Anna Julia Da Silva and Brighton Smith decided to make it a party of three as they placed 6th and 7th. Drew Verweiji of Oyster River placed 8th as the Bobcat 3rd to keep it incredibly close with HB while Souhegan’s Heidi Dimambro was Souhegan’s 3rd scorer as well. So 3 teams, each with 3 in after the top 10.
Oyster River’s Carrigan Sekera made it 4 scorers for the Bobcats, but HB countered with Alina Szczeszynski right behind her in 13th. Souhegan’s Avery Heroux once again made it 4 for each by placing 14th. And while HB got 5 in (Mia Spear – 15th) before OR’s 5th (Samantha Caron – 16th), it was Oyster River who took the title by only 1 point, 35-36. For their efforts Souhegan placed 3rd with only 49 points. Great race! Also placing in the top 15 were Coe-Brown’s Sydney Place and Charlotte Hanscom who crossed in 10th and 11th respectively.
The boys race was not as close but it was still championship XC! Oyster River’s fab freshmen took 3 of the top 4 places and 4 of the top 6. Forest Eberl won a battle with CBNA’s Dylan Plowman winning 19:12 -19:17 while Ryker Anderson, Simon Lamb, and Dylan Dulac placed 3rd, 4th, and 6th respectively. All they needed was a 5th as Cian Elly took 14th to seal the deal as the Bobcats who scored only 28 points for the win. Led by Plowman, Anthony Szatko’s 7th place and Gavin Dyjak’s 11th place Coe-Brown edged Souhegan for 2nd by only 1 point 57-58. Souhegan was paced by Drew Rigaut and Karl Leonard who placed 8th and 9th respectively. Rounding out the top 15 medal winners were HB’s Aidan Curley (5th), Bow’s David Owen (10th), Souhegan’s Keenan Burke and Aden Walthier (12th and 13th) as well as HB’s Gregory Buchino 15th.
Interestingly Oyster River last won in 2018 as both teams swept that season as well! Congrats to all!