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The 91st New England Cross Country Championships are Saturday in Belfast, ME. All New England states except Massachusetts will be competing. Each state is allowed 6 teams and any other individual placing in the top twenty five of their respective state meet. The boys race first at 11:30am and the girls are slated to take off at 12:15pm. NH always stands united in our friendly competition with the other New England states! So wear your NHCC shirts! Cheer for one another! We will be there snapping pics, recording races and conducting interviews!!!
In this spirit, we will have a few guests involved from other states this weekend contributing. Scott Bliss, long time coach of Champlain Valley, has penned quite the comprehensive preview. Since leaving coaching, he is web master of a free website to truly cover Vermont High School Cross Country (sound familiar?). With his permission, his preview is posted below. Please check out his site! It genuinely reminds us of, well, us! He brings experience from a coaching career which included numerous state and New England titles as well as multiple trips to Nike Cross Nationals. Thanks Scott!
VTHSXC
By Scott Bliss
Boys Race 11:30
Team Preview
When looking at the boys race one thing clearly stands out. If races were won on paper then the champion would already be crowned but we all know that is not the case. Bishop Hendricken comes into this New England Championship ranked #16 in the US and #2 in the Northeast. On paper they are the clear favorites, but behind them there are plenty of teams which on any given day could put themselves in the mix for the win or a podium spot. If Hendricken does reign supreme there is still going to be a great race for the final 2 spots on the podium which should provide plenty of entertainment.
After the favorites Hendricken each state has a legitimate argument for at least one team being in the mix. This fact alone makes this race exciting because it will be a true New England Championship with each state being represented. Yes I know we are missing one New England state, by their choice, so this is what we are going with! We do again have a little bit of a course factor in this race. Unlike Thetford with the hills and challenging course, Belfast has the issue of the start and first 400+ meters. The start area is short and small and it fairly quickly funnels into a sharp 180 degree turn. All of the pack will still be together at this point in the course and it can create some issues. Fingers are crossed the weather does not come into play because that could also make this issue an even bigger problem. Beyond the start situation the course should be pretty fast and provide some opportunities for the best of New England to run some pretty fast times.
Bishop Hendricken(RI) is the favorite on paper. They won their State Championship with 27 points in dominant fashion. They have their high national ranking and regional ranking as part of their resume and they have the experience of being the team champions last year. They are led by a dynamic duo in sr Colby Flynn (state champ 15:21) and jr Shepherd Butler (4th 15:32) who normally give Hendricken an early team advantage because they are two very low sticks. They are followed closely by sr Andrew Williams (6th place 15:42) and jr Oliver Redmond (9th 15:59). They close out their scoring with a very solid soph Luke Tremble (16:08), sr Jeremey Dru (16:15) and jr Colton Orr (16:41). Their 1-7 depth is not matched by any other team in the field. They will be looking to match their 2011 and 2012 teams and win back to back New England Championships.
The next contenders all can make the argument they deserve to be in the mix for the team championship or a podium spot. Champlain Valley (VT) has proven all season that they should be considered a legitimate threat in this race. They have experience with 4 of their top 5 being seniors and being part of the 5th place team from last year’s race. Ben Holoch is the clear leader of the squad and was the VT state champion in 16:26 on the challenging Thetford course. Ben was an All New England runner last year so has the experience of running in the lead pack to help provide the CVU squad a solid low number. After Ben, the team’s strength has been the ability to have a very tidy 1-5 spread. Usually when one comes in the other 4 are not that far behind. At the VT State Meet their spread from 1-5 was a very impressive 37 seconds. Senior Cole Hart and sr Treson McEnaney are consistently the next two Redhawks to cross the line and have been solid in those spots all season. Not to be overlooked are the 4 and 5 runners of sr Jack Snyder and fr Royal Ricklefs. These two close the door on their team scoring and the ever improving Ricklefs has helped the Redhawks be in a podium position.
Xavier (CT) should definitely be in the mix. They had the unfortunate DQ of their top runner at the CT State Open last week, so if people are only looking at the race results, they are missing one of the best runners in the entire New England field. When you add in jr Quentin Koch into their scoring 5 they are a legitimate threat in this race. Without the DQ, Koch would have finished 2nd in the race and would have impacted their team score significantly. It would have turned a close team race into a much more comfortable victory. After Koch, jr Holden Hines was 4th in 16:11 at the State Open. He along with jr James Perrault (8th 16:22) gives Xavier a top 3 that competes with most teams in the field. The jr laden squad then has Alex Brown (17:00) and Jackson Gould (17:23) to close out their top 5. Xavier definitely has the fire power to be in the mix.
New Hampshire has a couple of teams that on any given day could be in the mix this Saturday. The top team to watch is probably Hanover. They won the Meet of Champions last weekend averaging 15:44 and they have the power at the top of their lineup to put them in the mix. Senior Ben Groves won the MOC in 15:05 and should be in the top pack of the field. Following Groves is a tight pack of three. Dylan Faris soph(15:42), Teddy White fr(15:43) and jr Isaac McNaughton (15:53) came in a nice and tidy 11 seconds apart at the MOC. That is necessary in races of this caliber for your team to be in the mix. Their scoring should be closed out by Alexander Collins jr(16:19). Hanover’s fate may be determined by if they can move forward just a little bit on the fast course in Belfast.
Coe-Brown in the next NH squad that should be in the mix. They bring the experience of a surprise 4th place finish at last year’s New England Championship and a tight 1-5 spread that could overcome the lack of one of the top front runners in the field. They will be relying on having a high quality 1-5 spread to be in the mix. Their spread at MOC was :37 and that is what they will need to do again to be successful on Saturday. The Black Bears are led by the brother duo of Patrick Youngs jr (15:41) and Samuel Youngs soph (15:41). They then were followed closely by the trio of Gus Glaser sr (16:05), Broden Cox soph (16:10) and Mateo Ferguson soph (16:18). Their ability to compete for a podium spot will depend on keeping their pack tight and how high up can they get that tight 1-5 group.
Pinkerton (NH) could also be a team that could poke their nose into the mix. They were 3rd at MOC but has shown that on any given weekend they can perform at a level that could make them a team to contend with. Pinkerton is led by a trio of seniors in Jason Robie (15:20), Oscar D’Amelio (15:59) and Joseph Gustavson (16:10). For them to move into the top contender conversation they will need to close down their 1-5 spread of 1:17. If they can do it they could be in the mix.
Yarmouth of Maine will be defending home turf. They were the overall Maine state champions and will be trying to show that their local knowledge can help propel them into the mix. They are led by Jackie Chalmers jr(16:36), Bowen Mitchell jr(16:47) and Eli Chalmers jr(16:53).
The boys race should be a fun one. With all of these great teams in the mix it could come down to who can close the final mile the strongest and every point in that final mad dash could be the difference. If Hendricken can hold their spot and defend the crown there still should be an amazing race behind them for the final podium and top 5 spots. If Hendricken is off or slips up in any way there are a number of teams that will be trying to put themselves in position to take advantage of that mistake. This one could be a barn burner!
Boys Individual Preview
The boys individual race is once again loaded with talent. One of the things always interesting to think about with this is who is on a team in contention for the team title and who is running for the individual title only. This can determine the risk some runners can take to try and win the individual race. The course could also play into this a little bit. With the course being fairly flat and fast it could definitely lead to more runners staying in contact with the top part of the race than on a course with more challenging terrain.
The favorite on paper has to be Tycen LaBelle (Griswold CT). Tycen won the CT State Open last week in a commanding performance and is one of the toughest racers out there. He is the top returning individual from last year and finished 3rd at Thetford. He has the experience and he keeps showing he has the toughness to win this race. Battling with Tycen for that top spot should be RI state champion Colby Flynn (Hendricken) and RI runner up Will Souza (LaSalle). They were separated by 4 seconds last weekend and clearly will be in the mix. Along with the RI duo there should be the top 2 from NH also right there. Ben Groves (Hanover) and Ethan Fischer (Bishop Guertin) went 1st and 2nd at the NH MOC and were separated by 5 seconds in that race. I will admit that I almost did what many people might do…..I forgot Quentin Koch (Xavier CT). A very unfortunate, in my opinion, disqualification will maybe have many forgetting about Quentin. Forgetting about him could be a mistake. Before his DQ Quentin had finished 2nd in the CT State Open and the week before was 3rd in the Divisional races in 15:50. These six should be somewhere in the mix for the top spot but they are not the only ones with a shot!
This is a very deep individual field and the next group that will be right there, if not in the mix, is composed of another seven runners at least. The next RI contingent is led by Leo Woodman (Providence Country Day/15:31), Shepherd Butler (Hendricken/15:32), Matthew Lewis (LaSalle/15:37) and Andrew Williams (Hendricken/15:42). A CT duo of Zackary O’Toole (Stratford/16:02) and Nico Cardello (East Lyme/16:02) and VT State Champion Ben Holoch (CVU/16:26) should also be in this pack. This is where some of the team situations start to come into play. Out of these top 2 groups of individuals at least six of these runners are on teams that are in contention for the team title. This could impact how they react in the race because if they push too hard and make a bad racing decision, it could impact their team’s results and not just their own individual result.
The next group are all runners that are going to be battling for All New England spots and to make sure that if anything happens with the top group that they are in position to take advantage of that. This is a very deep field of runners so on any given day any of this group could be in contention for a spot in the top 10. This group should consist of Holden Hines (Xavier CT/16:11), Jason Robie (Pinkerton NH/15:20), Gabriel White (EO Smith CT/16:18), Brooks Mello (Barrington RI/15:52), Atticus Merriam (Scarborough ME/16:06), John Thornton-Sherman (St Johnsbury VT/16:37), Cole Hart (CVU VT/16:38), Vihaan Kamath (Greenwich CT/16:20), Alex Martin-Casas (Hall CT/16:22), James Perrault (Xavier CT/16:22) and Colby Napolitano (Barrington RI/15:58). All of the runners in this group have the ability to make the All New England team and to move themselves forward into the top pack of this race.
This boys race could be a fun one. There is a large pack of runners which could put themselves into the mix and on any given day a number of these runners have the ability to push for the top spot. Tycen LaBelle should be considered the favorite but there is a gaggle of guys behind him who will be trying to knock him off. The course could help keep a bigger group together for longer and when that happens all bets are off. It could come down to someone just feeling better than their peers on that day. The tactics in the race will be fun to watch and this has the making of a great race that could come down to the last stretch. Hopefully the weather will hold out and that the course will be in great shape for an amazing race. Good luck to everyone racing and have the best day that you can have!
