Congratulations to Hopkinton’s Maddy Lane, Oyster River’s Haley Kavanagh, and BG’s Matthew Giardina as all three had incredible races in challenging conditions at yesterday’s 2024 Nike Cross Nationals. Against the very best in the country, Lane, Kavanagh and Giardina all finished within the top 50 in our nation’s most competitive race annually.
The girls kicked off the “mudfest” at Glendoveer Golf Course. While the runners did not have to navigate a “lake” this year, the course was still wrought with plenty of mud and standing water which created a number of slip and slides. Lane and Kavanagh seemingly ran the race like teammates, finishing within 15 seconds of each other. Lane placed 42nd in 18:14 and Kavanagh 58th in 18:32. Kavanagh, competing in her second NXN, markedly improved from last year when she placed 130th. She was 4th among Northeast individual qualifiers. Lane, only a sophomore in her second XC season, raced like a veteran in her first NXN appearance and was 2nd among Northeast individual qualifiers. This certainly was a breakthrough national level performance. Giardina, also competing at his first NXN, placed 41st in 16:08 and also was the 2nd Northeast individual finisher. Giardina next competes at the Footlocker National Championships in San Diego next weekend. We think the weather will be slightly better in sunny California 🙂
Congrats to all!
