By Tyler Sheedy
Every year, the Battle of the Border kicks off the second half of the season with a showdown between New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Athletes competed in six different races at The Hills House across from Alvirne High School, where all Granite State runners got a preview of the Meet of Champions course. It was a hot and dusty day, but everyone raced hard and produced some fast results!
The Two Mile Freshman races began at 2pm, with the girls up first. Lucy Balcius of Tyngsborough dominated the second half of the race, cruising to the win in 14:40 – very impressive, considering she is a 7th grader! The Middle School dominance continued in the boys race, as 8th grader EJ Montero took the lead early and crossed the line in 11:58. Through the freshman races, Massachusetts showed they had come to play.
Once the freshmen had all made their way around the course, it was time for the 5Ks. The JV girls featured a great mix of teams, with Bedford’s Nora Buxton leading the whole way to win in 21:56. Bedford, North Andover, Oyster River, and Keene all had great showings from their JV squads! The boys JV race was won by Luka Radivojevic in a time of 18:12. His North Andover teammates also ran well, with Plymouth South and Lowell rounding out the top three boys JV teams. The girls state competition seemed pretty even through two races, but the boys was all MA heading into varsity and the titular “Battle of the Border”!
In the girls varsity race, one athlete was in a league of her own: Mikita Barry of Bedford, the defending champion from 2024. Behind her, a terrific team battle was shaping up with NH teams #3 Pinkerton, #4 Oyster River, and #5 Bedford facing off against MA schools North Andover (#18) and Boston Latin Academy. By the start of the race, the heat was unrelenting and the lead cart was smartly put away to not kick up dust into the faces of the leaders.
By the end of the opening straightaway, the race was already over! Barry opened up a gap and was miles ahead after the first woods loop. Behind her, Sara Blanco of Boston Latin took early control of the chase pack, while Oyster River’s trio of Olivia Kavanagh, Neely Roy, and Maddy Cook slotted in behind with Pinkerton’s Kalisan Marzolf. Over the last mile or so, Barry extended her lead to cruise in for a finish of 18:16. The battle for second went to Kavanagh in 19:18, as she hoped to lead her Bobcats to a team win. Marzolf started the scoring for the Astros with a great third place in 19:23. Roy was next up in 19:26, while Blanco held on for fifth in 19:38.
Oyster River would take early command of the team race as Cook crossed the line in 19:48 for sixth. They would eventually take the win, as Haley Bezanson (8th, 20:00) and Jahrie Houle (19th, 21:00) gave them a score of 38 points. This’ll be a shakeup in the rankings! Sookie Folsom, Gabrielle Bedard, and Naomi Ebhaleme placed 9th through 11th in 20:01, 20:03, and 20:07 to help Pinkerton to second with 56 points. Boston Latin also had Anjuli Szydlo running 19:52 for 7th, which allowed them to be the top Massachusetts team. New Hampshire ended up proving to be the superior state though, as Bedford and a surprise Windham placed 4th and 5th with 89 and 166 points.
The final race of the day was boys varsity. Unlike the girls race, there was no clear favorite! This was evident as a gargantuan pack rolled through the mile in a very relaxed 5:25. Some top teams in this pack were Coe Brown (NH #3), Oyster River (NH #4), Londonderry (NH #5), and Nashua South (NH #8), as well as Lowell, North Andover (MA #9) and Boston Latin Academy (MA #18).
The two mile mark was truly the first time there was any sort of distinction among the leaders. Jimmy Kelly of Lowell took to the front, but unranked NH team Salem put both Lucas Gomez and Elliot Chisholm in the top group. Londonderry’s Josh Twomey was also with those leaders, while Patrick Youngs of Coe-Brown was barely trailing them. By the time they reached the finish, Kelly had gradually pulled away in a fantastic display of race tactics to win in 16:12. Gomez wasn’t far behinvd in 16:18 for second, while Twomey snagged third in 16:20. Youngs moved past Chisholm in the final mile, as those two ran 16:26 and 16:27.
The story of the team race was Boston Latin Academy though, as they were led by Bradon Spiess who ended up catching the lead pack to also run 16:27. Ryan Collins and Adam Kramer (both 16:39) claimed 11th and 12th, which was enough to get a big team win with 90 points. Londonderry (105 points) also had themselves a day, with Twomey leading the way while the Lancers were also aided by Patrick Ramsey’s 16:34 9th place finish and Carson Fitzgerald’s 16:46 for 15th.
Coe-Brown won a tiebreaker over Lowell at 107 for third in the team race. Rounding out our top ten individuals were Levi Clapp of Oyster River in 16:30, Jack Mortimer of Bedford in 16:32, and Tucker LaRosa in 16:36, leading North Andover to a fifth place finish. The whole race was pure chaos over the last mile after such a strategic first half!
So which state won for the boys? Well, if you utilize cross country scoring, NH teams went 2-3-6-7-9 for 27 points, while MA went 1-4-5-8-11 for 29. We’re going to go with that – certainly not biased! Either way, this was an extremely close battle where both the Granite and the Bay were well-represented.
Great job every competitor for toeing the line and giving it your all, no matter the race! It was a hot day for even the spectators, and each race was very fun to watch. We will be back at Alvirne in about a month for Meet of Champs!
