By Patrick O’Brien
FULL RESULTS Courtesy of Speed Sport Timing
PICS – by Jay Smith
Nothing beats the energy at Cross Country meets. Thanks to everyone who made Bobcat 2024 a great success! The weather was great, the races were fun, and the times were impressive for this tough course.
In somewhat surprising fashion, Bedford’s Mikita Barry took the girls race from the gun. A chase pack of Mackenzie Cook and Haley Kavanagh of Oyster River, along with Hopkinton’s Madeleine Lane emerged, with Exeter’s Eli Cross and Alexis Paterna not too far behind. Midway through the race, Cook was able to bridge the gap back to Barry, but Barry pulled away over the final half mile to claim victory in 18:49, a new course record. It is quite impressive that Barry did this in her first cross country race, on one of the tougher courses in the state. She is known as a middle distance star in indoor track, so having a race like this is a testament to her range as a runner. Cook followed closely behind in 18:57, and Lane took 3rd in 19:24, a time still significantly faster than last year’s champion. After this, Oyster River’s Neely Roy outkicked Cross for 4th, and teammates Kavanagh and Haley Bezanson crossed together in 6th and 7th. Paterna, Oyster River’s Madelyn Cook, and Bow’s Hannah Pawlowski would round out the top 10.
With their scoring 5 all inside the top 9, Oyster River started their season with a comfortable victory on their home course. They moved up nicely throughout the race, and finished with a scant 26 points. The preseason rankings held true, as Exeter followed with 72 points, while Hopkinton took 3rd with 94. These 3 teams looked strong, and are all in a good position to compete for their respective Divisional titles later in the season. Bedford took 4th with 121 points, and Londonderry had a good day as well to place 5th with 133.
In the boys race, it was Belmont’s William Trautz setting the pace for the first mile of the race. He was overtaken by Oyster River’s Ollie Lehman shortly after, with Londonderry’s Carson Fitzgerald and Josh Twomey following close behind. Fitzgerald was able to catch, and break away from Lehman towards the end, winning in 16:57 to Lehman’s 17:03. Twomey held his 3rd place position, and was followed by a string of runners between 17:25 and 17:45 in Trautz, Alvirne’s Brent Dunning, Oyster River’s Mitchell Keesee and Bedford’s Jack Mortimer. Freshman Patrick Ramsey came across next as Londonderry’s 3rd, while Belmont Hill’s Eita Fuse and Bedford’s Ethan Pulsifer rounded out the top 10 for the boys.
The team race was tight, with Belmont Hill School making it interesting for the second year in a row. They were the first school to have 5 runners in, and actually had six in front of anyone else’s 5 too. However Londonderry going 1-3, along with having 4 guys in the top 12 was just too much to overcome. The Lancers took the W over Belmont Hill, 50 to 56. Oyster River would take 3rd with 80 points, followed by a tightly-packed Alvirne with 92. Alvirne (unranked), took down Bedford (NH #9) by 21 points, so they will likely shake things up a bit in this week’s rankings.
