Divisional State Championship Meet Hub
Girls
Results Courtesy of Lancer Timing
Much like we said in the preview and on commentary, the D3 girls race was both Maddy Lane and Hopkinton’s to lose. They were in the driver’s seat for sure and Lane was behind the wheel. But that was the only thing she was behind, as she jumped out to an early lead, having gapped the field by twenty seconds at the mile. Behind her, Erin O’Shea of Mascenic was a bit out in front of a chase pack that included sister Kaitlin, Shaylee Murdough of Hopkinton, Eilis McKenna of Newmarket, Kaitlin Stocker of Sanborn, Maria Tilley of Gilford, Anna Fazelat of Derryfield and Amelia Hill of Conant. At this point Hopkinton was sitting in first, with Gilford a strong second and Newfound tucked in behind. Newfound’s top two, Emerald Briggs and Ceili Irving tend to work their way through the crowd over the second half so the question is did they spot Gilford too many places to make up.
Not much would change over the reservoir loop, with Lane stretching away and O’Shea out there in no man’s land. While the chase pack would rearrange itself with regard to order, they’d stay within spitting distance through the low point in the course where things started to shake up a bit.
In the end, Lane would simply outgun the field by a ton, winning in 19:39, 54 seconds better than Erin O’Shea. Murdough would finish 26 seconds back on O’Shea. There was a tight battle over the final straight for the next six places, with Kaitlin O’Shea in next, then, McKenna, Hopkinton’s Maisie Emerson, Briggs, Tilley and Stocker. Rounding out the top ten was the unheralded Fazelat of Derryfield.
With three in the top 6, and the scoring five in the top 19, Hopkinton ran away with this, scoring a low 30 points. Gilford would be the best of the rest, scoring 71 to Newfound’s 109. Newmarket would finish in fourth with 126 points while unmentioned-in-the-preview Sanborn would finish in fifth with 186.
Boys
Also as we said in the preview, Mascoma Valley was in the driver’s seat in the boys race, with the individual winner a bit more of a mystery and that mystery remaining hidden until very late in the race. In this one a big lead pack formed from the start, with Mascoma’s Gunner Currier, Hillsboro-Deering’s Elijah Bodanza, Monadnock’s Peyton Joslyn, Sanborn’s Jake Pitre, Portsmouth Christian’s Christian Barnes, Kearsarge’s Dan Dalbec and Profile’s Isaac Reeder fronting the rest of the field through the mile.
Somewhere out in the back reservoir loop things would get stretched out, with Currier and Bodanza gaining separation from the rest of the pack. The rest of the lead group would splinter a bit as well, with Dalbec giving chase from the third spot over the last 1000 meters. With Currier out front with a slight gap until the flats at the low point of the course, Bodanza finished with a flurry, gapping Currier quickly and take over the front of the race. Bodanza would open a ten second gap over the last 500, winning in 16:41. Dalbec gained ground on Currier the rest of the way, but ran out of room, finishing third, five seconds back from Currier. Barnes would create some separation for fourth, with Joslyn coming in fifth. Pitre and Reeder would finish 6th and 7th from the initial lead group, with Newfound’s Colin Foster emerging out of the rest of the field for eighth. In a battle of the Max’s which would literally come right down to the line, Hopkinton’s Goupil would clip Holy Family’s Williams for 9th.
In the team battle, Mascoma Valley would win pretty handily, with their scoring five in the top 30, with 74 points. There 1st title in school history! Behind them, Mascenic would emerge from the scrum in second, with 111 points. Newmarket would edge out Portsmouth Christian in a tie break with 139 points. Not having Saint Thomas surprise me again, the Saints finished fifth with 145 points.
