Nashua North XC Invitational Meet Hub
Nashua North Invitational always represents an exciting early season look with a lot of strong teams heading to Mines Falls to get some fast early season times on the flat course. This year, the original course returns as the bridge has been replaced! Really looking forward to seeing how performances compare.
Girls Race
With 7 of the top 10 currently ranked teams slated to compete, along with one of the top teams from Maine, this race will certainly be exciting. Let’s begin with NH#2 Exeter, which will be making their season debut. It will be fun to see how fast the Blue Hawks cover Mines Falls. Known for their prowess in track and field, Alexis and Brianna Paterna, Izzie Bremer, Madeline Poteet, and crew should be looking to fly. They are simply loaded with a national class runner in Alexis Paterna providing the low stick and then depth which can all run under 20:30 through 5-7 runners potentially.
Last year, NH#3 Pinkerton won over one of VT’s top team’s U-32. This year, visiting from Maine, is its top ranked team York. Led by Zoe Carroll, 6th at New Englands last fall, look for them to make some waves come Saturday. As for Pinkerton, look for them to be led by Gabrielle Bedard, Parker Knowlton, Sookie Folsom, and Kalison Marzolf. The Trail Blazers have always run well at the North Invite, so do not be surprised if they surprise.
While the aforementioned teams may be battling for the top spot, it will be interesting to see how the next few teams shake out. Let’s begin with D3 powerhouse #5 Hopkinton as they continue their tour of large invites. Maddy Lane looked unstoppable at last week’s hilly Bobcat Invite where she broke the course record crossing in 18:49. It will be awfully interesting to see how fast she can run on the zippy, Mines Falls course. But, don’t overlook the rest of her team. Maisie Emerson and Rose Afflerbach continue to develop to be 2 of the best in the state as well.
#6 Bedford lost to Hopkinton by only 14 points at last week’s hilly Bobcat course. Expect this differential to shrink on the track which is Mines Falls. Also expect Mikita Barry to be rolling alongside Lane and Paterna, which will leave their supporting casts to determine who takes this one. If Raissa Caridade and Nora Buxton can continue to move up, Bedford will be in business. #7 Bishop Guertin will be making their large invite debut this weekend. Judging by their Summer Nights 5k performance as well as their early season meet, BG has a spirited new look and a nice scoring 5 mixed with youth and experience. Led by sophomore Jaylyn Paul and freshman Zoe Coler who should score low, BG’s scoring 3-4-5 may determine where they finish up.
#8 Londonderry is a solid, solid team led by sophomores Anna Laufersweiler, Stella Dutton and senior Ella DiBuono. They certainly are a pack running team which will serve them well in a large invite like North, especially if their top few can work their way further up the field. Fresh off their big invite win at Jaime Martin early in the season #9 Windham is another new look team buoyed by an influx of freshmen. Led by sophomore Hazel Perks, look for freshmen Devyn Viens, Katelynne Fox and Atia Mutai to continue to make gains and certainly will be nipping at some teams’ heels as early as this weekend.
Individually, looking forward to round 2 of Lane and Barry, but watch out because Exeter’s Alexis Paterna will be joining the fray. These 3 are among the best not only in NH but also beyond. Honestly this is a pick ’em race at this point of the season. We are thinking this level of competition will help propel all three to great performances. Then we have the x factor of a 6th place at New Englands last year in York’s Zoe Carroll. Will she join the party with Lane, Barry, and A. Paterna? As these three, possibly four are absolutely duking it out, look for names like Bedard, Paul, Folsom, Knowlton, Emerson, Perks, Caridade, Bremer, Poteet, Rosalie Neveu (North), Olivia Cartagena (Alvirne), and Mae Butler (HB) to form a chase pack.
-Tim Cox
Boys Race
The boys division should be a fun one with six of the top ten ranked teams from around the state involved. Early season races often bring surprises of athletes who took their summer running seriously and suddenly find themselves shaking up the field. The individual side of the race is particularly intriguing with a number of the top racers in the state looking to take the prize.
The #1 Pinkerton boys team came into the season as the top ranked squad in New Hampshire and at the Bobcat Invitational last weekend they showed why. In a strong field, the Astros put on a clinic scoring a diminutive 37 points cutting second place Londonderry’s score by half. In 2024, Bobcat had one runner under 17:00 and this year Pinkerton’s fifth ran a 17:07. That’s one seriously strong team. With the return to the original faster Mines Falls course, could we see an entire top five under 16:00 two weeks into September? At the moment, the question isn’t whether Pinkerton will win but by how much. I’m especially keeping an eye on Oscar D’Amelio and XC rookie Jason Robie who should compete for the individual win in the race after going 3-4 at Bobcat.
Things get a little more interesting after that. #3 Londonderry looked impressive last weekend at Bobcat with their top guy Carson Fitzgerald coming out as the top New Hampshire finisher after breaking away from D’Amelio and Robie late in the race. Josh Twomey and Patrick Ramsey also had strong runs placing just outside the top ten. I think they’re setup for what could be an interesting battle with #6 Bishop Guertin which we haven’t really seen yet this season. Ethan Fischer should compete for the top spot with the previously mentioned guys and he has teammates Samuel Prescott and William Moores, who could potentially be top ten finishers. BG’s challenge comes after that excellent top three, they have a bit of a drop off while Londonderry looked solid through five even while missing a varsity starter. I think the edge probably goes to Londonderry here, but BG is the most likely team to bring surprise talent to the meet so don’t count them out.
#8 Salem is another team to keep a close eye on in that battle for second. They also have three top tier returners in Lucas Gomez and the Chisholm brothers Elliot and Brody. These are all guys who should compete for a top ten spot and maybe the win in what looks like a really dense field of fast runners. Salem has two solid returners in their four and five spots but they also appear to be a bit behind the Londonderry guys. If they improved in the summer it could absolutely vault Salem above BG and Londonderry.
#9 Exeter is another squad to watch though I think they’re a little behind the first four teams. They returned most of their varsity from last year and there was some obvious young talent in the group. Logan Poteet in particular looked to grow a lot as a runner as his freshman year progressed and looks likely to be in the top twenty at worst. At a home meet last week, their entire top five averaged sub 18 pace on a 4K course and I could even see a scenario where their top five could all be in before everyone not named Pinkerton. That said, without multiple guys competing for the top ten I think they’ll struggle to keep up with the top teams score wise.
#10 Hollis/Brookline is the final team I’m watching. They made the jump into the rankings in the most recent update after a strong showing at the Sanborn Invitational. Jacob Hoesch and William Scott both placed in the top ten and ran really strong early season times. Not quite sure they’re going to be with the individual race winners but they do look primed to be in the top twenty of a really competitive field.
While the team championship doesn’t look like much of a battle, the individual side should be an absolute BLAST to watch. Many of the state’s fastest runners will be in attendance and all of them are going to want to stake their claim as the early season guy to beat. Bishop Guertin’s Ethan Fischer was unstoppable in last year’s post season and should probably get the nod as the likeliest to win. That said, Pinkerton has four guys in Oscar D’Amelio, Jason Robie, Trainor Mailloux and Sean Hayes who will likely spend the whole race making him feel like he’s fighting for his life against a whole team. Salem’s top three are going to be right there as Lucas Gomez, Elliot and Brody Chisholm are all guys who could win this race on the right day. Carson Fitzgerald’s excellent finish last week on a tough Bobcat course tells me he’s in great shape early in the season and looks like a guy who’s definitely improved since last year. This is also a great meet for early season surprises so watch to see if any new runners find their way into the top spot battle!
Good luck to everyone racing!
–Ian French
