With the leaves changing that can only mean one thing: the start of championship season. Starting things off for many division 3 schools it the Jeri Blair Belmont Invitational in its 44th year. I used to see this time as the turning point in the season, using these meets for the rest of the way as test pieces to get things right before we got to Derryfield Park in late October. I also saw the difficult Belmont course as a good mimic to Derryfield, with two big climbs in the race to test your ability to tough things out. Not to mention the additional 142 meters tacked on for good fun.
Teams Entered: Belmont, Berlin, Bishop Brady, Campbell, Conant, Gilford, John Stack, Mascenic, Newfound, Winnisquam
Girls Race
Looking through and over the results from Manchester one would be foolish to not give a slight nod to Gilford’s Maria Tilley. Tilley had a great spring campaign and has made the jump to D3 all star status. Considering Belmont runs a lot like Derryfield, I’d expect Tilley to have the strength to find her way through this one. Looking to upset the apple cart will be the sisters O’Shea from Mascenic, now seniors and experienced on the course as well. Having a great run at Manchester this past weekend was Conant’s Amelia Hill, seemingly to find her mojo this season and you couldn’t ask for a better time to do so. I could see a lead pack consisting of these four. Behind them I suspect we’ll see John Stark’s Nora Smith, Newfound’s Ceili Irving and Emerald Briggs, Campbell’s Calliegh Duncan and Brianna Flanagan, and Gilford’s Kylie Keely.
As far as teams go, if Newfound is operating at full strength, they should be in the driver’s seat. If not, look for Gilford to swoop in. Campbell should be looking for a top three finish, and with a good run could be challenging for the win here as well. Division 2 John Stark and Conant should round out the top five.
Boys Race
Again, using the results of Manchester as the bellwether for this preview, one would have to anticipate Newfound’s Colin Foster of last year’s NHCC’s FASTER series to be the man to beat. He was the top finisher at Manch for individual’s racing here, and his 17:59 from there doesn’t really identify his potential as he has run much faster. Look for John Stark’s Austin Patenaude to give chase along with Foster’s teammate Brady Harker if he can keep the lid on this one as he led the Manchester Invite up the start hill. After that expect a chase pack of Newfound teammate Connor Hemingway, and Dylan Callahan and Donovan Griffis of Mascenic, followed by John Stark’s Shane Brunini, Gilford’s William Reinhardt as well as Logan Vaillancourt and Reino Crawford of Mascenic. I don’t want to leave out Conant’s Aaron Graham, who could be leading the front chase pack if he is back from injury.
As far as teams go, with three from Newfound, two from John Stark, and four from Mascenic in the individual preview write up, expect to see these teams stand out towards the front of the race. The nod would have to go with Newfound, potentially putting in the first two scorers this go round, with Mascenic’s pack making them a likely second. John Stark could come in and upset the apple cart, being somewhat evenly matched with Mascenic. Behind them I see Gilford and maybe Berlin rounding out the top five teams.
