BoB14 Meet Hub – all videos, interviews, and photos are up!
As hoped for, the 14th Battle of the Border was filled with phenomenal competition throughout all of the races! Not only was the
competition fierce in the traditional sense, but the added interstate friendly rivalry between NH and Massachusetts added that something extra special to the day. Of course, the good guys 🙂 swept the varsity races, but hopefully this will inspire other Massachusetts teams to send their squads next year!
A full 5k this year combined with humidity and slow trail conditions may have contributed to slower times than expected, but this is cross country, and do times really matter?
Talk about competitive, the Girls’ JV Race kicked things off in high gear as the team title had to be settled on a tiebreaker between Coe-Brown and Merrimack. While Merrimack placed three in the top ten with Kiara Bedard (3rd, 23:19) and Abby Fay (6th, 23:30), the Lady Bears had the pack mentality as their top five, led by Tessa Millette (7th, 23:37) and Miranda Compton (8th, 23:47), had an impressive 42 second spread. But this was won on the tiebreaker, so 
kudos to the CBNA’s 6th team finisher, Cailin Monahan (18th, 24:50) for sealing the victory! Concord, led by Serena Britos’s (22:57) runner-up finish, placed a close 3rd with 68 points. Individually, North Andover’s Kaitlin Hastings led from gun to tape, posting a 22:38 to take it over Britos.
The Boys JV Race saw Concord flex its muscles of depth as they swept the top 4 places with Brayden Kearns (17:21), Eben Bragg (17:33), Aidan O’Hern (18:03), and Alex Duncan (18:04). Londonderry’s Kyle Hoglund (18:08) rounded out the top 5 in 18:08. Concord scored 20 points to Londonderry’s 62. Marshfield was 3rd with 94 points to round out the top 3. Merrimack’s Joshua Felo placed 8th in 18:22 while Concord’s Shane Riley placed 10th in 18:26.
While the Girls’ Varsity Race was not decided by a tiebreaker, the top 2 teams were separated by only 5 points and the top 4 teams all
came within 24 points of one another. Running without their 5th scorer (sick), Coe-Brown (NH#3) fought gamely to the runner-up position behind Massachusetts’ Groton-Dunstable 94-99. While the Lady Bears placed their top 3, Addison Cox (2nd, 19:42), Abigail O’Connor (7th, 20:22), and Eleanor McDonough (9th, 20:30) in front of Groton-Dunstable’s third, the Massachusetts’s squad’s top five, led by Emily Willson (6th, 20:17) simply were closer to each other to take home the title. Continuing their impressive season, Con-Val (NH#5) led by their 1-2 punch of Rachel Hurley (3rd, 19:50) and Clare Veverka (4th, 19:57) placed 3rd with 111 points edging Merrimack (NH#6), led by Bailey Carrillo (8th, 20:26) and Grace Corbett (10, 20:32), which placed fourth with 118 points.
Individually, Milford’s Rebecca Durham once again sprung to the lead from the get-go and was never threatened to win in 19:07. Londonderry’s Kalin Gregoire joined Cox and Hurley in the chase pack through two miles and then finished a strong, close 5th in 20:01.
When Boys’ Varsity Race reached the woods, neither of the eventual top two finishers were with the front pack. Coe-Brown’s Evan Tanguay was hanging back a bit over the first mile, while Concord’s Forest MacKenzie dealt with losing his shoe over the first 400 meters. Both however progressed towards the front over the second mile. The front pack would be whittled down to three including both Tanguay and MacKenzie as well as Campbell’s Jeffrey Allen just past the 2-mile mark heading into the final hilly woods portion. Earlier in the season, MacKenzie bested Tanguay at the Cofrin Classic, while Tanguay had NH’s fastest time at MI43. Last weekend, MacKenzie dropped a 15:45 up in Belfast, while Tanguay struggled somewhat. But it was Tanguay who ended up pulling away gradually through the woods to win his first invtitational by 11 seconds 16:23 to 16:34. Never really broken, Allen would place a close third in 16:38.
With placing all top 7 in the top 13, Concord scored 30 points to record another win. Supporting MacKenzie’s yeoman effort were Eli Boesch-Dining (4th 16:39), Nate Nichols (7th, 16:55), Oliver Spencer (8th 16:56), David Cook (9th, 17:00), Matthew O’Brien (10th, 17:02) and Ryan Devine (13th, (17:18).
Tanguay’s win would actually become extremely important in the overall team placing because as Concord was once again dominating
an invitational, Coe-Brown (NH#5) was in a dogfight with Marshfield, Mass., and Londonderry (NH#4) for the runner-up spot. Marshfield certainly came to play as they placed three in the top 11 with Nick Valianti (5th, 16:52), Chris Bunker (6th, 16:55) and Joe Joyce (11th, 17:09) all coming in front of Coe-Brown’s second and Londonderry’s first. The Lancers were led by their three fab freshmen as Will Heenan placed 12th (17:12), Matthew Griffin placed 19th (17:27) and Ryan Young came in 22nd (17:33). CBNA broke up the Lancer triumvirate as their two freshmen Luke Tkaczyk (15th, 17:21) and Wyatt Mackey (16th, 17:24) placed in front of Griffin. In the end, the math worked out for the Bears as Coe-Brown (96 points) edged Marshfield (97 points) and Londonderry (107 points). Winnacunnet (NH#8) placed 5th overall with 120 points.
Congrats to all who competed and a hearty thanks to the Alvirne community for hosting another successful BoB! Here’s to another NH overall win. Massachusetts, we are calling you out, in the most friendliest of ways, to show up in force next year!!!
