By Tyler Sheedy
Results – Courtesy of Speed Sport Timing
The 2025 Monadnock Moonlight Madness was a thrilling event under the lights at Cheshire County Fairgrounds where we got a great look at the speed of some of NH’s top runners (and a few from MA/VT) while we barrel towards championship season. The course was fast, the weather was finally cold, and the crowds were roaring. Great job Monadnock for putting on a fantastic meet!
Both JV races were dominated by Hanover (NH #1 for Girls and #2 for Boys). In the girls race, the Bears took first through fifth, as Ari Hirschler led the way in 19:17. Rhys Jones of Hanover won the boys race in 16:46, as his teammates swapped places with Keene all throughout the top six.
The girls varsity race played out identically to JV. The Hanover girls were unafraid to run fast, slotting their entire top seven within the lead pack. Megan Faris took the early lead, but teammate Aria Deeb was only a few strides back, and by the time they rolled through the mile the team race was essentially over, but individual placements were very much up for grabs. By mile two, Faris still had a gap of about 10 meters or so over Deeb. These two had pulled away from the chase pack which consisted of Hanover’s two Lilas (Muirhead and Marchetti), Millie Larrick, Alice Bell, and Grace Stewart. Erin O’Shea (Mascenic) and Candace Maple (Cushing) were breaking up the Hanover crew by putting themselves within the lead group as well.
As the top runners made their way onto the final stretch, it was Faris who still held pole position, winning the race gun-to-tape in a course record of 17:43! Deeb never fell more than a few seconds behind, crossing the line in 17:50. Larrick had a fantastic final mile, moving to third in 18:11. Hanover completed their perfect score with Muirhead (18:23) and Marchetti (18:33), while Bell and Stewart also claimed spots in the top ten (18:39 for eighth and 18:46 for ninth). It was truly a display of why they are ranked number one in the Granite State!
As the rest of the runners came storming in through the darkness, it was time to turn our attention to teams other than Hanover. O’Shea was sixth in 18:36, with Maple seventh in 18:38. Rounding out the top ten was Anna Laufersweiler in 18:57. Speaking of Laufersweiler, she led her Londonderry Lancers to a fairly comfortable runner-up team finish with 99 points. Third place was decided in a tiebreaker at 136, with Hollis/Brookline getting the edge as their sixth scorer was ahead of Cushing Academy’s sixth. Hannah Lapointe was the first runner across the line for the Cavaliers. Newfound Regional, led by Ceili Irving, was not far back in fifth with 138 points.
The boys race featured a much closer team race, as western New Hampshire’s two best squads (#2 Hanover and #7 Keene) faced off in a showdown under the moon. The battle between defending champ Sully Sturtz of Keene and some of D3’s top racers was also highly anticipated! The race did not disappoint.
Right away, Sturtz went to the front for the Blackbirds (who should’ve been called the Chickens based on their epic choice of shorts), but he was flanked by Peyton Joslyn of Monadnock, with both through the first 1609 in a blistering 4:45. 2024 D3 Champion Elijah Bodanza of Fall Mountain was not far behind, as he was engaged in a race with Hanover’s top man, Ben Groves.
Two miles in, Sturtz’s headlamp was still visible in the lead, but to the surprise of many, Joslyn hadn’t let him go. The two of them blazed through the second split and took off for one more loop around the fairgrounds, as Bodanza had started building a gap back to Groves. Hanover’s second runner, Isaac McNaughton, had begun clawing his way towards his teammate. The team race looked tight, with Hanover and Keene trading runners all through the top few groups.
The finish was electric. From about 200 meters out, the crowd could spot Sully’s headlamp flying towards the line. But as they approached the chute, suddenly a figure moved in front – it was Joslyn! He fought to the line, crossing in a new course record of 14:44, while Sturtz took down his old record by running 14:48. Was this a preview of MOCs?!?
Bodanza was alone in third, running 15:09. Groves and McNaugton had a great teammate battle, with Groves holding on in 15:26, McNaughton running 15:27. Alexander Collins finished sixth for Hanover in 15:38, but Tristan Woodbury and Sawyer Kress weren’t far behind for Keene, running 15:40 and 15:45. Over the next few finishers, Hanover was able to sweep all four races, as Dylan Faris in tenth (16:06) and Oliver Collins in fourteenth (16:25) closed out their scoring. Keene did end up in second, with a final score of 38-45. Colin Foster of Newfound Regional ran 15:53 to earn a place in the top ten as well.
Home team Monadnock placed third, sparked by the winning run from Joslyn. Portsmouth Christian Academy placed fourth with 167 points (although it seemed like their typical top guy Christian Barnes took this race to help pace his teammate to a PR – we love to see it!). Northfield Mount Hermon of Massachusetts rounded out our top five teams, as they placed Eric Zhou and Mills Costello in the top twenty.
What a night! All the athletes seemed to have a lot of fun with creative glow-in-the-dark mechanisms, lights, and various costumes, and the spectators were loving it. There aren’t many opportunities for a nighttime race in New England, so all the competitors clearly made the most of it. Great job everyone, we’re looking forward to the rest of the season and next year’s Monadnock Moonlight Madness!
