Both the Londonderry High boys’ and girls’ cross-country contingents put forth noteworthy performances at significant events recently, including last weekend’s fourth annual Nashua Invitational.
The Lancer guys had an exceptional afternoon in a quad-meet at Salem High School on Tuesday, Sept. 16, finishing with a final score of 24 to easily outdistance Merrimack (63), Salem (68), and Exeter (84).
Standout LHS harrier Jared Kane was the second young man across the finish line with his time of 17 minutes and one second, and he was followed by teammates Cam Dickson (fourth, 17:20), Noah Schrank (fifth, 17:26), Nick Leach (sixth, 17:29), and Bailey Hamilton (seventh, 17:31) as the Lancers bunched together beautifully.
And then last Saturday, Sept. 20, coach Matt Smith’s Londonderry crew finished a strong second – behind the Pinkerton Academy Astros but ahead of 12 other squads – at the Nashua Invitational at Nashua High School South.
Pinkerton nabbed first with its team score of 34, with Smith’s squad bagging runner-up honors with a tally of 79.
Where individual finishes were concerned, five of the Lancers placed among the top 25 finishers in a 93-runner field.
Kane paced his team by finishing 10th overall (16:55), Schrank took 13th place (17:02), Dickson finished 16th overall (17:05), and Hamilton was right behind him in 17th place (17:09).
Nick Leach wound up 23rd, Josh Wasserman finished 35th, and Spenser Kutney ended up 44th overall.
Coach Ed Burgess’ Lady Lancer harriers also performed well at the Nashua event, placing third behind Concord and Pinkerton in a team field of 12.
The Londonderry girls had four runners go top-20 in the 86-finisher field thanks to the intense work of Courtney Guay (14th, 20:19), Madison McKivergan (16th, 20:22), Kalin Gregoire (18th, 20:29), and Alex Seeley (19th, 20:30).
Other Londonderry High finishers included Emily Holland (31st place), Bella Ziolek (38th), and Kaitlyn Marchant (46th).