One week after finishing second behind the title-winning Pinkerton Academy boys’ cross-country team at the state Division I championships in Manchester’s Derryfield Park, Londonderry High School’s boy harriers managed the feat again at the state Meet of Champions (MOC) in Mines Falls Park in Nashua.
The Lancer runners ended up second behind only Pinkerton and its top team score of 48 at the MOC last Saturday, Nov. 7, and easily qualified for the New England Championships at Thetford Academy in Vermont this coming Saturday, Nov. 14.
Nineteen teams and 157 individual runners took part in the boys’ race, with the top six scoring squads advancing to the New Englands. Those numbers also matched the ones in the girls’ MOC, also run that afternoon in the Gate City park. The LHS Lady Lancers ended up 11th out of the 19 teams competing in their race.
BOYS
Veteran coach and former LHS running standout Matt Smith’s Lancer males had two runners finish among the top 20 in the boys’ race, with Cam Dickson 10th overall (in 15 minutes and 51 seconds) and Noah Schrank 18th (16:09).
Also placing among the top 30 line-crossers were Jared Kane in 26th place (16:17) and Josh Wasserman in 28th (16:20).
Behind that impressive duo were Bailey Hamilton in 53rd place, Chris Zaino in the 58th spot, and Declan Hotter in the 68th position.
GIRLS
Longtime LHS coach Ed Burgess had his Lady Lancers wind up 11th after finishing a solid eighth in the D-I race a week earlier.
The LHS effort at the MOC’s was paced by Kalin Gregoire in 42nd place (19:50). The locals also had Kaelyn Rourke wind up 61st, Bella Ziolek end up 81st, Alex Seeley claim 85th place, and Courtney Guay finish in the 98th spot.
The Lady Lancers also saw Jill Doris and Madison McKivergan compete in the event.