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On a cool and blustery day in Penacook, the 48th Capital Area Championships took place under late afternoon skies that hinted at the coming of winter. With the wind pushing the windchill down another 15 to 20 degrees below what the car thermometer said, I unwittingly left the safety of my vehicle without the benefit of my down jacket. While I regretted not grabbing it I didn’t regret spending the breezy afternoon at Merrimack Valley.
Upon arrival I was accosted by Belmont’s Riley Degange, who mentioned she had been looking for the meet preview all week, constantly refreshing to see if it had been added to NHCC. I had to inform her I have never written the preview and that it had always been gently crafted by Dave Irving, former XC coach at MV and a friend of mine (I’m not sure he’d admit the same!) So when asked to write the recap with Dave as a guide and Riley as the inspiration I hope to do this justice.
This was my second time at the Capital Area Championships, having hailed from a school outside the Capital Area for 24 years, it took retirement for me to get here. Back in the day, Capital Area took place at Belmont, with John Goegel at the helm. I can’t say when it moved to Merrimack Valley, but it’s been here more than ten years and is starting to build its own history. Like most things, the event ebbs and flows, this year seeing a smaller crowd than usual, but plenty of effort and enthusiasm as this is many schools last effort before the championships. So onto the racing.
I was here as part of the video and to do commentary. The beauty of the Merrimack Valley course is not only can you do a great job covering the race with just one camera, but those camera shots are at great places in the race, the start, the 1200 meter mark, the 1600 meter mark, just after the 2 mile and of course the finish, giving the viewer a really good inside view to how the race is playing out. I arrived right at the start of the combined JV race, something previously used at the Belmont Invitational when the rosters and number of attending schools swelled, allowing the Varsity races to be just a bit more quality. As I surveyed the camera positions, I was able to cheer on Maximilliano Jiminez-Calderon of Concord to the win (18:52) along with Gianna Gaultieri of Concord (21:44), as she beat a ton of boys as well, something I always like to cheer on.
At Capital Area they run the boys varsity race first, going off at 4:15pm according to legendary starter John Goegel. For the team title we had St. Paul’s and their great pack running, looking to defend their title against Concord with their strong front running. And that front running being done by Concord’s Josiah Conley, all alone from the opening gun. What was interesting is the pack from St. Pauls wasn’t even among the front pack at 1200, but moving up strongly between there and the mile, but having their top seven in the top twenty five by the mile and on the move. Also among those top guys at the mile were Proctor Academy’s Max Preuss, Hopkinton’s Max Goupil, James Lavers and Finnegan Kovar, Concord’s Spencer Clemens, John Stark’s Austin Patenaude, Laconia’s Jordan Dinardo and Zander Leclerc, Bow’s Wyatt Worcester, Sam Kohl and Ian Sandahl, and Merrimack Valley’s Ben Geoffroy.
Conley was relentless at the front, opening a gap early and fending off the late charge by the boys from St. Paul. Owen Gorenc would make some inroads on the lead, but Conley would win this one 16:11 to 16:26. Behind them was Preuss for third, with Linus Krinkel and Langston Williams making Goupil an SPS sandwich with Hopkinton being the filling. SPS teammates Charlie Harvey and Daniel Hong would do the same to Concord’s Clemens to finish off the scoring for SPS. Patenaude would finish out the top ten.
With five in the top nine, St Paul’s would win this one handily, 24 to 79 over Concord. Hopkinton would show why they are the team to beat in D3, finishing third with 94. Bow (101) and Laconia (132) would round out the top five teams.
In the Girls Varsity race, on paper we had the defending champions in St. Paul’s School going up against NH #7 Hopkinton for the team title, with #9 Concord looking to make inroads on those two teams. Maddy Lane, winner last week in a great duel with Exeter’s Alexis Paterna, would be the clear favorite here, the cream of the crop in this race and I think we were all pretty sure the cold conditions would not phase her in the least. Lane made no bones that she was there to race, jumping out to an early lead, only to be challenged by the course and the strong swirling winds. Behind her at the mile in the chase pack were teammates Maisie Emerson and Rose Afflerbach, SPS’s Aedyn Kourakos and Brooks Boyd, Gilford’s Maria Tilley, Proctor’s Catherine Veirzen, Bishop Brady’s Eloise Burns, Concord’s Mahalie Burdette and Quinn Doherty, and Bow’s Julia Hou.
Things would begin to stretch out behind Lane, with Kourakos chasing Lane and a nice D3 battle between Tilley and Emerson. Tilley would lead Emerson after the mile as Maddy Lane streaked to what we believe to be the course record of 18:11, showing her mastery this season and that she is head and shoulders above the rest of D3. Kourakos would finish next, with Tilley staying out on Emerson with a great race into the finishing chute. Behind them Burdette would sneak in under the 20 minute mark, followed by Burns as the next after the 20 minute mark. Veirzen would be next, followed by Boyd, Afflerbach and Doherty.
At the mile mark, Hopkinton was up just a few places on SPS, however the girls from SPS, much like the boys, were on the move over the second half. Even though Hopkinton would have three in the top 9, St Pauls would score 2-6-10-11-14 for 43, over Hopkinton’s 53. Showing how important your sixth and seventh runners are, SPS would also grab the 18th and 20th spots, in before Hopkinton’s fifth with 28th. #6 and #7 runners do count! Concord would be behind these two with 69, while Merrimack Valley would enjoy home course advantage over Gilford, both teams scoring 147 points but Valley’s 6th runner finishing 55th to Gilford’s 63rd.
On what was probably the coldest running conditions day for the season, the athletes who competed certainly tempered themselves for what’s to come over the next few weeks.
