Full Results – Courtesy of Speed Sport Timing
Pics soon! Race Videos and Interviews below article!
What a day at the Bobcat Invitational at DeMeritt Farm! Hats off to the Oyster River Coaches, Volunteers, Athletic Department and especially the folks at DeMeritt Hill Farm. The hard work they have put into keeping a portion of their property conducive for cross country racing is a testament to their dedication to their community! Thanks Ryan Wilson and company.
The racing was certainly the highlight of the day. Runners were once again greeted with warm temps but a new configuration, courtesy of OR Coach Nicole Toye featuring 3 loops was a gift.
Another change made was having the varsity run first as well as a rookie race! The varsity girls kicked off the day and pre race thoughts had the team race battle
come down to Dover, Oyster River and Bedford. #1 Dover was admittedly short handed, #2 Oyster River was the host school and then we had #4 Bedford coming off an impressive win at Cofrin Classic.
Individually, Bow’s Susanna Zahn took control of the race early on during the first loop and never looked back, covering the challenging roller coaster of a course in an impressive 18:38. Oyster River’s Mackenzie Cook was comfortably in second looking strong the entire race to cross the line in 19:26. Zahn’s teammate, NHCC veteran Maya Brochu ran a super smart race hanging back a bit the first half to close nicely in 20:19 and she was followed in by Cook’s teammate Haley Kavanagh who placed 4th in 20:33.
5th place saw Fiona Lee of Bedford, as she ran a similar race as Brochu, hanging back a bit the first mile to move up steadily from there. Lee was their top runner but it was Bedford’s 2nd through 5th runners who led them to the win. They ran impressively as a pack the entire race to place within 11 seconds of on another! Junior Sophia Mooney (21:22), Senior Collette Sneau (21:28) led freshmen Caitrin Duprey (21:29) and Mia Moranti (21:33) taking 13th through 16th positions respectively. Keep an eye on Bedford, we know this is early, but they certainly look like the real deal!
Host school, Oyster River took second with 82 points to Bedford’s 63. D3 defending champs Hopkinton, always solid, took 3rd with 98 points led by sophomore Shaylee Murdough’s 7th place (21:04) and Hannah Bennett’s 9th place (21:04) finishes. Concord would come in 4th just 12 points behind led by Alina Pincoske’s 10th place in 21:12.
The story of the boys race was certainly the battle for the win between defending champ Patrick Gandini (Gilford) and Birhanu Harriman (Lebanon). This battle is somewhat easy to describe because up until the final turn it was Gandini towing Harriman over the entirety of the race. Was Gandini trying to pull away or was Harriman simply biding his time? Regardless, it made for a real exciting finish as Harriman took Gandini on the inside of the final left turn to win in 16:10-16:11. Londonderry’s Ryan Fortin had a strong race crossing in 16:46. Host school Oyster River saw two of their own place 4th and 5th with Chris Jernigan (17:11) and Henry Hagen (17:12). Concord freshman Josiah Conley placed an impressive 6th in 17:13.
Exeter, the team favorite coming into the meet, was led by sophomore Willard Hoffmaster who placed 7th in 17:15 over top Bedford finisher Jacob Redmond (17:16). Portsmouth Christian’s Jonas Teeter placed 9th in 17:19. Hoffmaster’s teammate, Spencer Mann rounded out the top 10 in 17:30 and this is where the Blue Hawks’ cemented their win! Their third man Gavin Malark placed 12th in 17:34 with 4th man Matthew Allen placing 15th in 18:02. Four finisher in the top 15 was their strength, but we score the top 5. Exeter’s 5th man enough to help his team win as Dylan Hills placed 51st and Exeter totaled 90 points for the win.
A bit of a surprise for 2nd as host school Oyster River totaled 115 points behind Jernigan and Hagen. Winnacunnet, using great team racing placed 3rd with 134 points, while the Fortin-led Londonderry edged Concord by 3 points for 4th place.
In JV action, Bedford’s Mishalena Raduazo led her team to the title with the win in 24:11. Bedford actually won on the tiebreaker over Concord. Winnacunnet’s Nathan Domingos did the same thing as he led a Warrior 1-2 punch along with teammate Merrick Germain. They scored 40 points.
The inaugural rookie 2.1 mile races were won by Oyster River’s Jahrie Houle for the girls and Dover’s Maddox Walker on the boys side.
Congrats to all!
