Results – Courtesy of Speed Sport Timing
There is something different about racing cross country after dark. With the traditional Saturday-morning routine replaced by stadium lights, darkness and the atmosphere of the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey, the Moonlight Madness hosted by Monadnock High School provided one of the more unique racing environments of the fall.
Boys Race
Let’s begin with the individual race with this one because it was outstanding! As expected Ben Groves led the way, off the line with a loaded front pack which included Fall Mountain’s Elijah Bodanza, Newfound’s Colin Foster, Hanover’s Isaac McNaughton, Dylan Faris, and Teddy White, Oyster River’s Oliver Lehman and Levi Clapp as well as Coe-Brown’s Patrick and Samuel Youngs.
This pack stretched and compressed over the first half of the race until the stretching began to string out the field. With Groves and Bodanza really battling over the final mile with Foster in tow. Bodanza made a huge bid for the win in the final 800 actually opening up a slight cushion, but Groves would not denied overtaking Bodanza in the final 100 to win in 15:38.7 to Bodanza’s 15:42. Former “Faster” star Foster was an impressive 4.6 seconds behind in 3rd crossing in 15:46.6.
And the chase group line wasn’t far behind as they piled in. Hanover junior McNaughton gave his team an enormous boost by placing fourth in 15:47.3, while Coe-Brown junior Patrick Youngs crossed fifth in 15:52.8 out-leaning Hanover sophomore Faris who was credited with the identical 15:52.8 in sixth. That meant only 14.1 seconds separated first through sixth—a remarkably tight front end of the race.
Coe-Brown sophomore Samuel Youngs continued his strong season took seventh in 16:03.7 before Hanover freshman White turned in one of the performances of the night. White finished eighth in 16:12.2, giving Hanover its fourth runner among the first eight finishers. Oyster River senior Lehman was ninth in 16:15.8, and Coe-Brown senior Gus Glaser rounded out the top ten in 16:24.1.
For Hanover, that front-end firepower essentially decided the team race. The team competition featured two of New Hampshire’s strongest programs, and #1 Hanover and #3 Coe-Brown dominated the front of the field. Hanover put Groves, McNaughton, Faris and White in the top eight overall. They completed their scoring with Oliver Collins, who finished 23rd overall in 17:00.0, giving them a total of just 34 points.
Coe-Brown answered with an excellent race of its own. Patrick Youngs was fifth overall, Samuel Youngs seventh and Glaser tenth. Sophomore Mateo Ferguson gave the Bears another top-15 finish, placing 15th in 16:43.1, and sophomore Broden Cox finished 18th in 16:52.9. That produced scoring places of 3-5-8-13-16 and 45 points, just 11 behind Hanover.
Oyster River edged Keene for third. Oyster River received top-15 performances from Lehman, Clapp (11th, 16:33) and Brendan Banafato (13th, 16:40). Keene countered with an excellent pack. Junior Sawyer Kress led the Blackbirds in 12th at 16:37.4. Aiden O’Donnell was 17th in 16:50.8, Tristan Woodbury placed 19th in 16:53.7 and Cooper Tiani was 20th in 16:54.4. Ultimately, Oyster River’s strength near the front proved just enough. The Bobcats scored 95 points, edging Keene’s 99 for third. Northfield Mount Hermon was fifth with 198, followed by Notre Dame of West Haven with 223.
Girls Race
With several of New Hampshire’s stronger programs represented, the front of the girls race was loaded with familiar names. But on this night, nobody could stay with Aria Deeb. The Hanover senior led from the gun and was never truly challenged with the real racing going on behind her. Deeb crossed the finish line in 18:33.1, putting more than 30 seconds between herself and the rest of the field.
Oyster River junior Olivia Kavanagh earned runner-up honors in 19:04.8 simply staying strong ahead of here chasers. Continuing her strong senior campaign, Concord’s Mahalie Burdette never allowed Kavanagh to truly relax and finished third in 19:10.8. Green Mountain Union’s Desi Broadley was right behind Burdette, taking fourth in 19:12.1.
Nashua North senior Rosalie Neveu had her best race of the season closing out a top five finish with a 19:20.7 clocking. After that, Oyster River began showing exactly why it would may be their night as senior Madelyn Cook placed sixth in 19:44.4, and teammate Haley Bezanson followed in seventh at 19:59.3. That gave Oyster River three runners among the top seven finishers; an excellent position as the field began to pour in.
Winnacunnet junior Sofia Parisi and host school Monadnock’s Emma Short essentially hit the line together in 20:02.6, finishing eighth and ninth, respectively. Winnacunnet sophomore Vera McCown rounded out the top ten in 20:03.8.
While Oyster River controlled much of the early scoring, Hanover answered with an impressive pack immediately behind the leaders. Senior Alice Bell finished 11th in 20:07.2 before her teammates Ari Hirschler and Grace Stewart crossed in 13th and 14th in 20:16.9 and 20:24.1. Mohawk Trail senior Virginia Krezmien broke up the Hanover trio with a 12th-place finish in 20:14.1. That meant Hanover had four runners among the first 14 overall — including individual winner Deeb — and the team race was very much alive.
Winnacunnet freshman Rowan Condon continued a strong evening for the Warriors from the Seacoast by taking 15th in 20:34.1. Oyster River then sent Corina Sietz across in 16th at 20:38.2, a crucial fourth scoring performance for the eventual champions. Just behind her came a tightly packed trio. Londonderry’s Anna Laufersweiler was 17th in 20:38.5, Coe-Brown junior Eloise Hill finished 18th in 20:38.6, and Concord senior Quinn Doherty placed 19th in 20:45.3. Coe-Brown sophomore Hilary Wennberg rounded out the top 20 in 20:55.9.
In the end, the team win ultimately came down to Oyster River’s 5th as Jillian Williams provided the finishing piece, placing 22nd overall in 20:58.7. With this Oyster River took this one with 47 points. Hanover Freshman Edie Rojansky finished 27th overall in 21:18.4 to close out the scoring as Hanover never truly gave in, competing to the end to place 2nd with 57 points. Expect to see these 2 continue their now multi-year battle for D2 supremacy.
Concord put together a strong race to take third with 106 points. Burdette’s third-place finish gave the Crimson Tide a low number at the front, and Doherty followed in 19th. In addition to Burdette and Doherty, freshman Corinne Conley was 24th overall in 21:06.5, freshman Maeve Durmer finished 35th in 21:42.4, and sophomore Grace Henry was 41st in 21:50.7. Winnacunnet finished fourth with 117 points, led by the excellent top-ten combination of Parisi and McCown. Coe-Brown completed the top 5 with 131 points.
Congrats to all and hats off to the Monadnock XC community for pulling off such an incredible event!
