MOC MEET HUB
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INTERVIEWS!
What a day!!! Meet of Champions 2024! All athletes and teams vying for New England qualifying slots (top 6 teams, top 25 individuals) and NH bragging rights yielded incredible competition. Third year for the MOCs at the Hill House course at Alvirne. Temps were cooler than recent days with a bit of a wind in the fields. Once again, kudos to the Alvirne cross country community and NHIAA for organizing and pulling off a top level event. Now lets get to the racing!
Girls Race
Lancer Timing Results
As with many of her other races, Bedford’s Mikita Barry wasted no time sprinting to the front at the sound of the gun. But this is the MOCs and she had 2 shadows in Dover’s Anique Poulin and D3 Champ Maddy Lane. Prior to entering the woods, OR’s Haley Kavanagh led the chase pack which already was stretching out with North’s Laura White, Plymouth’s Elli Englund, Hanover’s Leah Perreard & Megan Faris as well as Exeter’s Alexis Paterna and Eli Cross. OR’s Mackenzie Cook led a secondary pack with BG’s Anna Fondakowski, Hanover’s Aria Deeb, Mascenic’s O’Shea sisters, Souhegan’s Samantha Swanbon and Keene’s Abigail Pinegar.
By the mile, Barry and Lane began to separate from Poulin while Kavanagh began to string out the rest of the field. This was a fast pace and race! Team wise, Oyster River and Hanover were matching one another through 4 runners as Deeb and Alice Bell were battling with Maddy Cook and Olivia Kavanagh. At the midway point, Hanover had the edge as their 5th scorer was in great position as well.
By the 2 mile it was Lane and Barry simply battling as they would the entire rest of the way with Barry closing hard to the win in 17:24 to Lane’s 17:28. Incredible runs! White and Faris would have great last miles to move into 3rd and 4th crossing in 18:01 and 18:03 with Haley Kavanagh crossing in 18:05. Mackenzie Cook racing like a veteran for her team, placed 6th in 18:25. Poulin would have one of her best XC races ever crossing in 18:29 to Englund’s 18:33. Exeter’s Paterna was 9th and BG’s Fondakowski outleaned OR’s Olivia Kavanagh for 10th in 18:46.
With Maddy Cook crossing in 16th in 18:57 ahead of Hanover’s 4th and OR’s 5th Jahrie Houle outkicking 6 others in the final moments, Oyster River got the win by a scant 3 points over an ever strong Hanover 71-74. At full strength Exeter took 3rd in 117. Placing fourth and one of the smallest schools to ever do so was Hopkinton with 124 points just 5 points up on 5th place Pinkerton who should be at full strength next week. Bedford nabbed the final qualifying spot with 125 points.
BOYS Race
Lancer Timing Results
Wow another incredible race here! From the gun it was clear BG’s Matthew Giardina was not messing around. He had the pedal down and would keep there the entire race. Giving chase was D1 Champ Keene’s Sullivan Sturtz and D2 Champ Con-Val’s Will Simard as these three were free from the field entirely by the 1k mark. At this point the chase pack was led by Sanborn’s Jake Pitre and Milford’s Logan Korthals with Hanover’s Ben Groves, Salem’s Brody Chisholm, Concord’s Josiah Conley, Mascoma Valley’s Gunner Currier, BG’s Carson Fischer, Monadnock’s Peyton Joslyn, South’s Daniel Byrne, and BG’s Ethan Fischer in tow.
By the 2 mile mark, Giardina was still crushing the course but to their credit Sturtz and Simard were still in contact! Conley had moved into 4th, Ethan Fischer into 5th trailed by Byrne, Korthals, Currier, Carson Fischer, Groves, and Pinkerton’s Trainer Mailloux. Giardina would open up the gap slightly over the final mile to break the tape in 14:58.41 breaking the meet record. Sturtz would not be too far behind in 15:11 with Simard another 11 seconds back in 15:22. Conley would roll to 4th in 15:29 holding off Byrne who placed 5th. Groves would outlean fab freshman Fischer, both clocking 15:36. Currier would run perhaps his best race ever to place 8th in 15:40 while Pinkerton’s Sean Hayes ran an incredible final mile to claim 9th outleaning Carson Fischer both clocking 15:44.
With 3 in the top 10, four in the top 16, as Samuel Prescott crossed in 15:53, BG followed Giardina’s lead by ripping from the start and holding it down for the entirety of the course. Their 5th scorer William Moore did his job crossing in 16:45 to confirm Bishop Guertin’s status as best in NH winning with 64 points. Buoyed by their pack time of only 43 seconds, Pinkerton placed 2nd with 78 points just 8 ahead of defending champs Nashua South, who keeps improving each week. Salem took 4th with 124 points over Hanover who placed 5th with 134 points. Keene would capture the coveted 6th and final qualifying slot for the teams with 204 points, only 6 points ahead of Coe-Brown.
Congrats to all!
