By Davie Irving
On Thursday, with perfect fall weather in the air, the cross country teams from the Concord region met at Merrimack Valley for the 47th running of the Capital Area Cross Country Championships. Wheel-measured to 5000 meters, windy and mostly flat save for “THE RAVINE”, the MV course is a good final test for most teams as they enter championship season.
The first race of the afternoon is the combined JV race. Concord boys claimed 8 of the top 10 spots, led by Stefan West in 19:22. Francesca Brown, also of Concord, led a 1-2-3 finish for the Tide’s girls in 24:27.
With the course warmed up, it was time for the boys varsity race. With the specter of two straight runner-up finishes, Concord’s Josiah Conley wasted no time in taking the lead; he was a man on a mission. Everything went according to plan with the exception of one very minor wrong turn, which had no bearing on the outcome on the race. In the end, “Wrong Way” Conley won by 37 seconds in 15:48, taking a swipe at the course record of 15:46. While his teammate, 9th-grader Spencer Clemans (16:32) was third across the line, it was runner-up Owen Gorenc’s (16:25) team from St. Paul’s who dominated the race, putting 6 in the top 10. Kearsarge’s Daniel Dalbec (16:40) finished in the 4th position, while St. Paul’s Linus Krenkel (16:47) rounded out the top 5.
St. Paul’s defended their title easily, putting up 30 points to Concord’s 70. Concord was back on the podium though, after missing it entirely in 2023. Bow looked prepped for states with a solid third place finish of 93 points to round out the podium.
The final race of the day belongs to the girls. Just like in the boys race, the individual race was never in doubt, with defending champion and DIII favorite Madeleine Lane of Hopkinton blasting out to the front. She blistered the course in 18:37, the second fastest time recorded at MV, winning by one minute and one second over her teammate Shaylee Murdough (19:38). A sophomore, she is now one step closer to the never-before-seen four-peat at Capital Area. The next two spots were occupied by teammates from St. Paul’s, Aedyn Korakos (19:47) and Brooks Boyd (19:59). And with that, the team race was on. Speed at the top from Hopkinton versus the depth of St. Paul’s? Maria Tilley of Gilford continued her great year by grabbing the 5th spot, while St. Paul’s and Hopkinton traded spots just a bit back. After the dust settled it was St. Paul’s by a mere 3 points over Hopkinton, the same gap as at Manchester Invitational, 43 to 46. Concord claimed the bronze team position with 79 points.
Good luck to all the teams and individuals at their Division meets!
