Divisional State Championships Meet Hub
What a glorious day for cross country in New Hampshire. With the temperatures hovering in the mid 50’s and a warming sun on the rise, the Divisional championships would not disappoint. With quick times and great racing, there is no better day in October, and I’d argue in the calendar year.
D3 Girls
Results Courtesy of Lancer Timing
The race got off to a quick start with Hopkinton’s Maddy Lane jumping out to the front from the gun. By 1000 meters she had a 30 meter lead over a pack which included teammates Maisie Emerson and Rose Afflerbach, Pelham’s Addison Martin, Gilford’s Maria Tilley, Monadnock’s Emma Short, and Sanborn’s Sophie Thurlow, and then a small gap back to the rest of the who’s who of D3.
Also alone through the mile in 5:44, Lane continued her assault not on her competitors, but on the course, laying down a quick time while all alone up front.
We could hear her return to the main fields past the tennis courts announced by the cow bells and at this point she was all alone in her drive to the finish, so much so we almost had to leave or vantage point before any other racers would pass the courts. We were able to see the fantastic battle for second before we moved between Tilley, Martin and Emerson. The next 600 meters would tell the tale for runnerup status as the trio was over a minute behind Lane.
Lane would make the last turn onto the finishing straight away with sub 19 firmly in her sights. A force to be reckoned with next weekend, Lane stopped the clock at 18:58. Behind her, battling greatly over the last 600, Emerson would round the turn, get up on her toes and lead Tilley and Martin into the finish, 20:16 to 20:19 and 20:21. Mascenic’s Erin O’Shea would work her way up through the field, leading Monadnock’s Short to the finish. Thurlow would lead a group in as well, including Bishop Brady’s Eloise Burns, Moultonborough’s Hailey Watts and Raymond’s Leah Unger.
On the team side of things, I had recognized the Hopkinton girls and their leader Maddy Lane as the team to beat. That certainly turned out to be true, as the Hawks ran roughshod over the division. However, pre usual, the race doesn’t always go to plan and the raptors might have struggled a bit over their middle score. However when you are a ranked team and you have a supporting cast which rides the thermals above the other D3 teams, your glass ends up half full more that it’s half empty. Buoyed by the three time D3 champion now in Lane, the Hawks laid waste to the rest of the field, with Emerson’s runner up, Ellison Gregory finishing 23rd, Afflerbach in 26th and Hannah Clarner in 30th, scoring 60 points.
Surprise Portsmouth Christian, not even in the preview, would finish 2nd with 87 points led by Brianna Stewart and some solid pack running. Newfound would struggle a little on the back end to finish third with 162 points. Newmarket would be fourth with 186 points and for the final MOC qualifying slot, Fall Mountain would win the three way tie between themselves, Pelham and Sanborn with 197 points. When was the last time we saw that??
Boys
Results Courtesy of Lancer Timing
Obviously not reading my preview was Monadnock’s Peyton Joslyn as I had said the best way to win the race individually would be to sit in last year’s champion, Elijah Bodanza and use his unrivaled leg speed to outsprint everyone at the end. Joslyn jumped out to an early lead much like Lane did in the girls race, with a 10 meter gap on Bodanza a thousand meters in. PCA’s Christian Barnes would lead the chase pack that included Newfound’s Colin Foster and Brady Harker, Mascoma’s Carl Russell, Holy Family’s Max Williams, Saint Thomas Oliver Schartner, and Hopkinton’s Max Goupil and James Lavers.
By the mile, hit in 4:55, Josyln had created some daylight back to Bodanza, who had also created separation from Barnes and everyone else. Of course the back half of the course is usually what shakes things up and we’d have to see what happens here with regard to Monadnock, Hopkinton and PCA, as they all had some low sticks and the rest of the field behind them.
Joslyn would keep his foot on the accelerator, leading everyone back past the tennis courts, now clear of the field and safely out front. Joslyn would break the tape in 16:03, second only to D1’s Ethan Fischer on the day. Bodanza would follow next in 16:24, fifteen seconds ahead of his winning time last year. Barnes would lead the rest of the field in, running 17:00. Williams would finish fourth with a gap back to Foster. Russell would split teammates Goupil and Lavers. Monadnock’s Chase Ruffo would beat out Harker for ninth spot to round out the top ten.
At this point, Hopkinton and Monadnock both had two in the top ten with Joslyn’s low stick. However Monadnock would do a great job getting their scorers all in the top 25, with Jason Lewis in 13th, Jackson Ellis in 17th and Jacob Brunjes in 23rd, to score 63 points. Hopkinton would score 90 points to PCA’s 114 points. Rounding out the five Meet of Champion spots would be Newfound with 140 points and Newmarket with 162 points.
