A strong, top-five finish at the state Meet of Champions in Nashua’s Mine Falls Park Saturday enabled to Londonderry High boys’ cross-country team to qualify for this coming Saturday’s New England Championships in Belfast, Me.
The top six squads from New Hampshire at the MOC’s advanced to the regionals, and the Lancers finished fifth overall behind Concord (score of 51), Nashua North (110), Keene (138), and Oyster River (140) with a team tally of 154. The Coe-Brown crew from Northwood bagged the sixth spot with a score of 157, keeping the Pinkerton Astros (174) from making it to the New Englands. All in all, some 18 boys’ teams competed.
The Lancers had freshman Will Heenan finish 15th among the individuals in a time of 16 minutes and two seconds. Behind him were his fellow ninth graders Ryan Young in 26th (16:17) and Matt Griffin in 41st (16:34), and veterans Nathan Seeley in the 51st position (16:40), Jake Donnelly in 54th (16:42), Kyle Hoglund in 60th place (16:47), and Kerry Daley in 85th (17:14).
The LHS Lady Lancers didn’t quite finish high enough as a team in the previous Saturday’s Division I championships to be able to take part en masse in the MOC’s, but skilled veterans Kalin Gregoire and Caitlin Boufford both got to run as individuals. at that event. Gregoire finished a fine 35th individually (19:14) and Boufford was 70th (20:03) out of a large field of some 145 competitors.