By Erik Travis
Results – Coutresy of Lancer Timing
Four divisions came together Friday at Hopkinton Fairgrounds for New Hampshire’s inaugural Middle School Cross Country Meet of Champions. Dover and Rundlett backed up their Division 1 titles with statewide team wins, while Kennett’s Tabitha Johnson and World Academy’s Jake Shepard turned runner-up finishes at States into individual championships.
Temperatures fell roughly 10 degrees as race time approached, and wind may have been a factor, with sustained speeds around 20 mph and gusts recorded as high as 35 mph at nearby Concord Airport.
Girls Race
Oyster River’s Beatrix Howey-Clark took control from the gun, but Kennett’s Tabitha Johnson patiently closed the gap throughout the race. Johnson made the decisive move late, turning her pursuit of the D2 champion into a statewide title. Johnson crossed in 10:54.6, improving nearly 14 seconds from her runner-up performance six days earlier. Howey-Clark finished second in 11:04.5, reversing their order from Divisionals.
D4 champion Sylvie Brown of Profile took third in 11:18.1, followed by D1 champion Morgan Sanderson of Dover in 11:26.8 and D3 champion Adeline Lundquist of Hopkinton in 11:38.2. All four divisional winners finished among the top five.
Richmond’s Maggie Anderson placed sixth in 11:44.1, just ahead of Londonderry’s Kaitlyn Ramsey in 11:45.5 and Dover’s Selah Moll in 11:46.4. Kyra Campbell of Winnisquam and Georgia Sweeney of Newfound completed the top ten, both recording 11:48.6.
Dover established itself at the front of the team competition and carried that advantage through the finish, scoring 62 points to beat Londonderry’s 79 and Amherst’s 89.
Sanderson and Moll gave Dover two runners in the first eight overall. Summer Kelley followed in 28th, while fifth grader Ellie Wagner and Ellie Moore finished together in 42nd and 43rd, separated by just one-tenth of a second, to complete the championship scoring five.
Londonderry was led by Ramsey’s seventh-place finish, with Kendell Cimeno 16th and Juliana Quinlan 30th. Sydney Barczak and Cora Lemeris rounded out the scoring. Amherst countered with Julie D’Anna in 13th and Ryanne Coogan in 25th, supported by Madelyne Tuttle, Maeve Westaway, and Adele Klimas.
Bow earned fourth with 114 points after all five scorers improved their times from Divisionals. Roselle Hendershot led the way in 22nd, followed by Viktoria Jurcins, Deborah Schoembs, Katherine Taylor, and Isabel Pietrangelo. Rundlett rounded out the top five with 169 points.
Boys Race
World Academy’s Jake Shepard asserted himself at the front within the opening 800 meters and never surrendered the lead, despite a hard, persistent chase from Saint Patrick’s Ryan Feeney.
Shepard claimed the inaugural title in 10:02.4. Feeney held off a hard late charge from D2 champion Henry Halter of Norwich to take second. Halter crossed immediately behind him, although the official results list their times as 10:07.9 and 10:11.6, respectively.
D1 winner Landon Barczak of Londonderry placed fourth in 10:18.7, followed by D3 champion Myles Bilodeau of Three Rivers in 10:26.1. Amherst’s Connor Tranquilli finished sixth in 10:28.7, with South Meadow sixth grader Pierce Adams seventh in 10:29.2. Hampton’s Declan O’Shaughnessy, Cooperative’s Reid Vardakis, and Rundlett’s Theodore (Teddy) Clemans completed the top ten.
The team race belonged to Rundlett, whose depth had given it a commanding position by halfway. The D1 champions finished with 68 points, followed by Amherst with 91 and Richmond with 126.
Clemans and Sean Fennessy led Rundlett in 10th and 14th, followed by Joel Giordano and Caleb Wing in 30th and 31st. Louis D’Ambruoso completed the scoring in 37th. All seven Rundlett runners finished by 11:15.8, with their fifth, sixth, and seventh separated by just 2.5 seconds.
Amherst made things interesting by placing three runners in the first 16 through Tranquilli, Luke Emerson, and Elliott Kaplan. But Rundlett’s fourth and fifth added only 39 scoring points, compared with Amherst’s 75, securing the championship.
Richmond took third behind Oliver Marchetti and Quincy Costa in 27th and 28th, with Hugo Hilton, Robin Hanaway, and Phineas Soucy completing its scoring five. Lebanon followed with 150 points.
The closest team battle came for fifth, where Cooperative edged Londonderry 165–166. Their combined scoring times were separated by only two seconds.
Congratulations to the athletes, coaches, organizers, and volunteers who helped launch a new statewide championship for New Hampshire middle school cross country!
