By Chris Paul
The Londonderry High School Boys and Girls Cross Country teams competed in the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Division I Championships on Saturday, Oct. 30, where the Boys took fourth place and the girls wound up in the 11th spot.
Just under 20 schools competed at the event in some rather soggy, raw conditions, making the course at Derryfield Park in Manchester more than a little difficult to navigate.
BOYS
The boys’ team finished with a score of 139, with their top seven finishers coming in at 6, 11, 29, 32, 61, 76 and 89 out of 121 runners.
Out of the 18 schools competing, the team from Bishop Guertin won the state championship with a score of 58. Concord came in second (81) and Pinkerton Academy took third with 104.
Top Londonderry runners were: Junior Ryan Fortin, finishing at 16:37.9, just 33 and a half seconds behind the race winner; junior Sean Clegg (16:52.2); senior Justin Dickson (17:44); senior Will Plante (17:47.9); and sophomore Aiden Oljey (18:41.7).
Senior Brendan Julian finished the race at 19:15.9 and senior Colby Lynch crossed the line at 19:48.2.
GIRLS
The Lady Lancer runners didn’t have quite the success the boys did, but had racers finish 24, 60, 61, 66, 67, 76 and 94 out of 110 competitors.
The Keene High School team won the state title with a score of 75; Concord finished as runner-up at 88; and Dover finished with 106 to take third out of 17 schools competing.
Londonderry runner results: senior Grace McDonough (20:56.8); senior Alea Millis (22.19.6); sophomore Amara Williams (22.19.8); freshman Sayde White (22.28); senior Adriana Nadeau (22.28.8); freshman Liliana Cawthorn (23:11.4); and junior Emily Smith (24:58.3).
The top seven teams and the first 30 finishers from the Division I State Championship will compete in the Meet of Champions on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 6 at the Mines Falls course in Nashua.
Top racers from all three of the states divisions will be competing in that race.