After months of preparation, the cross-country season comes down to just 20 short minutes this Saturday. Local high school cross-country runners compete with the best of their division at the state meet, held at Manchester’s Derryfield Park. With several young standouts, returning favorites and strong teams, the area should see its share of success as schools vie for a team title or a spot in the Meet of Champions.
The Cougars have two strong teams heading to Derryfield. The girls, fresh off a dominant season, should have a great shot at sending their whole squad to the Meet of Champions. It will take a top-six finish, but ConVal looks like they have the makeup to make it happen.
Sophomore Clare Veverka leads the pack; she was a top-20 finisher last year, when she placed 17th in 20:09. Veverka shaved a few seconds off that through the course of this year, putting her in position for a potential No. 1 finish, but her competition from Hanover, Coe-Brown, Oyster River and Souhegan will be fierce.
The Cougars’ strength, beyond their front-runner, is in their depth. Sophomore Schulyer Michalak PR’d at 20:55 this season, way down from her 43rd-place, 21:36 of last year’s divisional meet. Senior Lucy Freeman put in a tremendous amount of offseason work to shave 36 seconds off last year’s 21:56, and senior Sawyer Cawthern should be right behind her, under 22 minutes. Bringing up the back of the ConVal pack should be freshman Hailey Doherty (22:38), freshman Marina McMahon (23:25) and senior Caitlin Galea (24:00).
The boys have high hopes of improving upon last year’s results, where they placed 12th and averaged 18:21. They’ll be paced by sophomore Evan Coyne, who’ll lead a pack of three ConVal runners who consistently finish in under 19 minutes. Coyne clocks in at 18:08; fellow sophomore Ben Henry can hit 18:15, and senior Oliver Ellerkamp clocks in at 18:52. After that, it’s junior Casey Burgess (19:09), senior Liam Veverka (19:17), sophomore Max Boisvert (19:19) and frefreshman Harrison Kim (19:47).
The Vikings have the best shot at a state title out of any of the area teams. The boys feature Division III’s top returning runner in senior Jake Movsessian, who took fourth last year. With Dom Repucci, Cam Daly and teammate Avery Traffie out of the way, Movsessian (16:48) is the favorite, though he’ll be under pressure from Monadnock’s James Elmour, who took fifth last year and ran a stunning 15:58 on a fast course to close out the 2016 regular season.
The rest of the Vikings will look to hold off Monadnock , as well as Kearsarge, which topped Mascenic by one point last year. Here, too, the depth is what gives the Vikings their power.
Junior DJ Turner runs about 17:35; sophomore Logan Thibault is in at 17:46; soph Michael Fappiano hits 18:04; freshman Dakota Somero is a pleasant surprise at 18:08 ; soph Jake Zina can finish in 18:33 and soph Robert McLain has finished in 19:39.
After a first-place finish two years ago and a near-miss last year, the Vikings are primed to take advantage of their golden opportunity in Movsessian’s senior season.
The girls are strong up front but might not go deep enough to challenge for a top spot, though anything is possible on race day. Sophomore Madison Labrie shocked the rest of the division with her second-place finish last year. The only girl who beat her, Hopkinton’s Sarah Nadeau, is out of the picture. Labrie’s run at Derryfield Park is still the best of her career — her top time this season of 21:27 didn’t top her superb 20:08 — maybe it’s the course that brings it out of her.
In fact, Labrie might not even be the top runner on her team. Junior Sam Bilodeau finished 8th last year and put together a nice fall; she ran a 20:37 that would put her in the conversation for sure.
Behind Bilodeau, the only obstacle for Mascenic isn’t skill — it’s experience. Three freshmen and two sophomores make up the rest of the Vikings’ crew, as Samantha Hughson (22:30), Shelby Babin (24:14), Sophie Callahan (24:35) and Alexis DeFraga (32:38) look to make some noise.
With last year’s top runner, Dane Seppala, out for the entire cross-country season due to injury, the Orioles had their work cut out for them. Still, they ought to challenge for some spots in the top 50 for the boys and top 10 for the girls.
Sophomore Isabella Mormando should be back in the top ten after finishing 6th last year; her best time of 20:56 this year could put her right back in the same spot or better.
Senior Claire Van Houten is right in the mix at 21:32 and ought to cash in on her final shot at the Meet of Champions. Junior Lily Bennett has MOC potential as well at 22:17.
Rounding out the O’s girls are junior Julia Aho (24:32), freshman Bailey Despres (26:15) and sophomore Zoe Tardiff (29:37).
The boys should get two runners in under 19 minutes, as senior Caleb Olson (18:35) and sophomore Tim Luhtjarv (18:52) are up to the task. Then, it’s freshman Chris Taylor (19:32), junior Ben Pyhala (19:50), senior Brian Rogers (20:24), and sophs Seth Mann (20:46) and Kevin Rogers (21:02).