New England HS XC Championship Preview

 

 

Andrew Springer decision to train his soccer cleats in for XC spikes looks like an excellent decision, Springer his first XC season captured the RI state championship with a 15:14 clocking at Ponaganset HS course, the time broke the course record held by 2006 & 2007 New England champion Don Cabral (15:29). Tucker Schaefer is coming off a strong run at the CT championships where he led his team Danbury to the team title on route to winning the individual crown in a fine 16:01 on the challenging Wickham Park course. Eric Malnati has been on fire the past two weeks, first at the NH Class Championships held at Derryfield Park, the site of the New England’s, where he ran 15:34 to win the Class M-S title, then followed that up with his won at the NH MOC. Springer is the pre-race favorite coming off his performance last weekend, although he should have plenty of company at the front of the pack; check out some of the contenders below.

Boys Individual Top Contenders
Name	School/State	Year	Accomplishment
Tucker Schaefer	Danbury, CT	SR	CIAC CHAMP—16:01
Eric Malnati	Fall River, NH	SR	NH MOC CHAMP—15:19.6
Andrew Springer	Westerly, RI	SR	RI CHAMP –15:14.05 Course record
Alex Moser	York, ME	JR	Class B State CHAMP 16:04
Francis Hernandez	Bishop Guertin, NH	JR	NH MOC Runner-up 15:27
Mark Feigen	East Greenwich, RI	SR	RI Runnerup –15:42.16
Tim O’Loughlin	Westerly, RI	SR	RI 3rd place –15:52.9
Joey Jourdain	Bishop Guertin, NH	JR	NH MOC 3rd place--- 15:29.6
John Raneri	New Fairfield, CT	JR	CIAC Runner-up-- 16:15
Michael Levene	Joel Barlow, CT	SR	CIAC 3rd place—16:19
Matt Rand	Cape Elizabeth, ME	SR	Class B Runner-up 16:15
David Sinclair	Green Mountain Valley, VT	SR	VT DIV 1 CHAMP—17:40

Danbury is a perennially a top team in New England and this year is no different, they are the pre-race favorite, with two other ranked teams from NH looking to challenge them. Bishop Guertin & Hanover will have plenty of experience on the Derryfield Park course as they have run there a couple times this season; will this be enough to get them by Danbury? Should be a great race between some top team from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut & Rhode Island.

Danbury, CT: Danbury comes in the #9 ranked team in the Milesplit National poll as well as #3 ranking in the NXN Northeast rankings. The defending New England champions will look to repeat. The won the CIAC Championship meet last weekend with 86 points; previous week won Class LL title with 55 points despite Schafer being DQ’d for wearing the wrong jersey

Bishop Guertin, NH: They are#7 in the NXN Northeast rankings.Won the NH MOC with 72 points over runner-up Hanover (118 points). Have two individuals that could be top 10, averaged 16:18.8 on Derryfield course at Class L meet two weeks ago

Hanover, NH: #9 ranked in the NXN Northeast rankings.The runner-up at the NH MOC to Bishop Guertin. Won the Class I title two weeks on Derryfield course averaging 16:22.

Bishop Hendrickson, RI: Won the RI Championship meet last weekend over Lasalle with a 16:44 team average.

Greely, ME: The top team in Class B Maine State meet, and the combined champion of the three classes as well. Averaged 16:50 on Belfast course. They ran on the Derryfield Park course at the Manchester Invitational, winning the small school race earlier in the year.

Essex, VT: Won the VT Div 1 title, top team in VT in the combined results just ahead of Champlain Valley Union

Amity, CT

Shelton, CT

Pinkerton, NH

Lasalle, RI

Scarborough, ME

Merrimack, NH

Nashua South, NH

 

The Girls individual race at the New Englands should be interesting with no clear cut favorite. There are a handful of young ladies that should challenge for the title. The top returner from the 2007 New Englands is Vermont champion Hannah Rowe, who was 3^rd last year. Moira Kenny the CT champion also has big race experience, she was 6^th last year. NH Champion Heidi Caldwell will be up front as well, she was 7^th last year. Don’t count of the talented freshman from Maine Abbey Leonardi & Emily Durgin; they have put down some solid times this year. Should be a great race an intense battle at the front of the pack, who will prevail?

Girls New England Individuals
Name	School/State	Yr.	Accomplishment
Abbey Leonardi	Kennbunk, ME	Fr.	Maine Class A State Champ --- 18:03
Emily Durgin	Bonny Eagle, ME	Fr.	Maine Class A runner-up --- 18:16
Jenna Riley	Coventry, RI	Sr.	RI State Champ—18:38
Allie Staisuk	North Kingstown, RI	Sr.	RI runner-up –18:40
Heidi Caldwell	Hanover, NH	Jr.	NH MOC Champ –18:06.7
Kaitlyn D’Orazio	St. Thomas Aquinas, NH	Sr.	NH MOC Runner-up—18:09.5
Hannah Rowe	St. Johnsbury, VT	Jr.	VT Div I Champ- 19:31 @ Thetford
Moria Kenny	Immaculate, CT	Sr.	CIAC Champ—18:45
Caroline McDonough	Darien, CT	Sr.	CIAC Runner-up ---18:56

Glastonbury is the top ranked team (#3 in the NXN NE poll) coming into the New Englands, they are the CT Open Champs and were runner-up in 2007 New Englands. They will be challenged by defending NE champion Hanover, NH. Hanover dominated the NE team race last year but still has a strong team despite graduating 5 of the top 7. Will Glastonbury reverse the tables on Hanover this year? Can another team challenge these two? No doubt the team competition will be tight for a top 5 finish.

Glastonbury, CT: Glastonbury won the CT Class LL title two weeks ago, and then followed that up with a dominating performance at the CT Open Meet with a 56 point win over Guilford. They come into the meet ranked #3 in the NXN Northeast Regional rankings. They are led by Kristen Malloy & Lindsay Crevoiserat.

Hanover, NH: Hanover is the defending NE Champions, they come into the meet having won the NH Class I title & NH MOC titles the past two weeks. They are currently ranked #5 in the NXN Northeast Regional rankings. They have experience on the course which may provide them with an edge. They are led by Heidi Caldwell a threat to win the individual crown.

Cape Elizabeth, ME: Cape has dominated the competition in Maine as year, they won the Class B title last week with a score of ?, they were also the best team in the combined results as they averaged 19:56. Cape is led by Emily Attwood & Kelsey Barton.

LaSalle Academy, RI: LaSalle is the top team from RI. They won the RI Champions last weekend with 69 points, averaging 19:47, they are Jean Christensen & Emily Papazian.

Essex, VT: Essex is the top team from Vermont, they won the Div. 1 title was week and had the best team in the combine results. They are led by Anna Guthrie.