On a unseasonable warm November day at Derryfield Park, in Manchester New Hampshire, several of the top XC runners from Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, & New Hampshire lined up to see who would stake a claim to the best runner in New England as well as the the top team.
On the boys side, an unlikely winner emerged using a great last 800m to pass the rest of the field, Mark Feigen of East Greenwich, RI (pictured left with Joan Benoit Samuleson-- photo by Dave Flewelling) took the title with a 15:47.1 clocking to outdistance fellow RI runners Andrew Springer (Westerly) 15:48 & teammate Nick Ross 15:50. Feigen came into the race hoping for a top 3 finish, but after losing to Springer at last week's RI State meet, he said " After last week, I almost thought Springer was unbeatable".
The race started with a large pack of boys in a pack, and as they hit the mile mark in a conservative 5:05, the pre-race favorite Springer was at the firnt of the pack still with a large group on his heels. Just after the 2 mile as the runners headed down the steep downhill section before hitting the fields before the climb up to finish, Springer looked to be in complete command of the race. He had a 4-5 seconds lead coming down, and looked relaxed. Feigen the eventual race winner was in around 8-10th place at this point, a good 15+ seconds back of the race winner. The final 800m of the course certainly took its toll on several runners who had made their finish move a little earlier. The race really took shape the last 800m of the race, Eric Malnati (Fall Mountian, NH) the NH MOC winner surged to lead past Springer. As the runner hit the finish stretch, a long uphill climb of 200m+, it appared Malnati had the race won as he had a 3-4 seconds lead on Springer. 
Feigen at this point was still a long ways back, probably 8-9 seconds. When asked he he thought he could catch the leaders, Feigen said " I had no idea, I thought I was too far back, I was just trying to get by people, I thought I could get 1-2 spots in the last 800 of the race". The hill took its toll as Malnati started to struggle, Springer seized the moment and ran by him, by back about 5 meters Feigen & teammate Ross, along with Michael Levene (Joel Barlow, CT) were moving much better than the leaders and were closing ground fast. Springer still looked like he was going to have enough to hang on by with about 30 meters left, Feigen in full stride went by him to hold on for a 15:47.1 to 15:48 win. What was going through Feigen's mind with 50 meters left " I stillthought he (Springer) was too far away, but he kept coming back, I knew I wasn't going to come this far and not push it". Once I passed him, "I just tried to hold on". (Photo: finish of top 5 - Dave Flewelling)
Springer in his first XC season, has had a great year. After the race when asked about his runner-up finish, he said "I'm excited, today was tough with all the hills, I gave it everyhting I had the last 800m of this race, I didn't even see Feigen coming at the end." Springer showed a lot of sportmanship as well, "It's hurt to 2nd but give Feigen credit, he ran a great race".
(Photo by Dave Flewelling)
On the team side of things, defending champion Danbury, prevailed over instate rival Amity by 8 points. Tucker Schaefer led Danbury with a 12th place finish (16:06.7). Also for Danbury, Kevin Russell (33rd- 16:25.3), Levi Wallace (46th-16:30.2), Joseph Bubniak (73rd- 16:48.6) & Daniel Bubniak (86th- 16:54) helped them defend their New England title. The duo of Ryan Laemal & Adam Trofa finished 18th & 19th to lead the Amity charge. Hanover, NH was a close 3rd just 6 points back of Amity for 3rd, Aaron Watanbe (20th- 16:10.6) was the top runner.
Top 25 All-New England finishers complete results click here
1 Feigen, Mark 12 RI-East Gree 15:47.1 1
2 Springer, Andrew 12 RI-Westerly 15:48.3
3 Ross, Nick 11 RI-East Gree 15:50.0 2
4 Levene, Michael 12 CT-Joel Barlow 15:51.0
5 Malnati, Eric 12 NH-Fall Mountain 15:53.4
6 Mercurio, Connor 12 RI-La Salle 15:56.6 3
7 Hernandez, Francis 11 NH-Bishop Guertin 15:57.3 4
8 Bendtse, Christopher 11 CT-Wolcott 15:59.9
9 Raneri, John 11 CT-New Fairfield 16:02.6
10 King, Ryan 12 CT-Tolland 16:03.7
11 Christiansen, Job 12 NH-Mascenic 16:05.8
12 Schaefer, Tucker 12 CT-Danbury 16:06.7 5
13 Allen, Robert 10 RI-Cranston 16:07.8
14 Sienko, Jake 11 RI-B Hendricken 16:08.1 6
15 Fisher, Dylan 12 NH-Con-Val 16:08.3
16 Marsh, Bryan 12 CT-Conard 16:09.1 7
17 Magna, Brian 11 CT-Canton 16:09.4
18 Laemel, Ryan 11 CT-Amity Hig 16:09.9 8
19 Trofa, Adam 12 CT-Amity Hig 16:10.5 9
20 Watanabe, Aaron 11 NH-Hanover 16:10.6 10
21 Stoliker II, Richard 12 CT-Shelton 16:11.4 11
22 LaCoste, Jeff 10 NH-Bishop Guertin 16:12.1 12
23 DiSanto, Gregory 12 CT-Glastonbu 16:12.1
24 Geoghegan, Will 11 ME-Brunswick 16:13.3
25 Davis, Wade 12 ME-Hall-Dale 16:14.3
Top 10 Team Scores
=================================================================================
Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
=================================================================================
Results - Men
1 CT-Danbury High School 129 5 16 23 39 46 73 94
Total Time: 1:22:44.80
Average: 16:32.96
2 CT-Amity High School 137 8 9 24 43 53 97 137
Total Time: 1:22:42.40
Average: 16:32.48
3 NH-Hanover 143 10 25 26 40 42 54 90
Total Time: 1:22:59.80
Average: 16:35.96
4 CT-Shelton High School 186 11 15 41 49 70 112 124
Total Time: 1:23:33.80
Average: 16:42.76
5 NH-Bishop Guertin 191 4 12 27 55 93 106 187
Total Time: 1:23:10.80
Average: 16:38.16
6 NH-Pinkerton 251 20 45 57 58 71 86 96
Total Time: 1:24:38.90
Average: 16:55.78
7 CT-Conard High School 253 7 50 51 56 89 130 164
Total Time: 1:24:25.80
Average: 16:53.16
8 NH-Nashua North 262 22 30 37 65 108 119 161
Total Time: 1:24:31.80
Average: 16:54.36
9 RI-Bishop Hendricken HS 294 6 35 80 82 91 113 122
Total Time: 1:24:54.00
Average: 16:58.80
10 VT-Essex High School 365 48 68 78 84 87 114 160
Total Time: 1:26:10.40
Girls New Englands Recap
The future of New England running was on display at the 74th New England High School Interscholastic XC Championship held at Derryfield Park in Manchester, NH yesterday. With no clear cut pre-race favorite, it was anyone's race. Right from the beginning the freshman from Maine, Abbey Leonardi (Kennebunk) & Emily Durgin (Bonny Eagle) established themselves at the front pack along with 2007 top returner Hannah Rowe (St. Johnsbury, VT). This group hit the mile in 5:38-5:39 range.(pictured left -Three leaders phot by Dave Flewelling
Shortly after the mile Durgin made a move that was covered by only Leonardi. Just last week this duo battled eachother at the Maine Class A State Championships, with Durgin hanging close but Leonardi pulling away in the last mile for a 12 second victory. The duo hit the two mile mark with Durgin still leading holding about a 5 meter lead over Leonardi. With this gap, Leonardi knew she had to make a move, "Durgin had a 5 meter gap, I didn't want to wait for the race to come down to a kick, so I really pushed the downhill section, although I am not a great downhill runner". Leonardi took over the lead with her move, but Durgin wasn't going away as she was only 3-4 seconds back.
As the runners came out of the woods and onto the fields that surround the finish, Leonardi had
control of first place with Durgin still comfortably in 2d place. As Leonardi hit the finishing stretch she knew Durgin wasn't out of the race as she kept taking a peak back to see where she was. With each stride Durgin was cutting into her lead, but Leonardi would summon enough strength to win her first New England Championship. The margin of victory was less than 3 seconds, 18:12.7 to 18:15.3. Leonardi would say after the race, "I'm excited, but what I just did hasn't really set in yet". This was the closest anyone has finished to Leonardi all season, Durgin could barely contain her exurbance afterwards, "I'm excited, I wanted to be top 3 coming into the race". When asked if last week race gave her confidence, she replied, "yes definitely'.(Emily Durgin pictured right-photo by Dave Flewelling)
So the freshman stole the show, and the future of running Maine and New England looks bright, two other freshman from Maine where in the top 9 finishers, Abby Mace (Maranacook) 6th and Fiona Hendry (Cheverus) 9th. In 3rd place Heidi Caldwell (Hanover, NH) led her team to a runer-up podium finish, while 5th place finisher Kristen Malloy (Glastonbury, CT) was the top finisher for team champions Glastonbury. (Top 25 pictured above- photo by Dave Flewelling)
Glastobury reserved the tables on 2007 team Champion Hanover, as the ran away with the title this fall with 70 point margin of victory. Kristen Malloy (5th), Reid Watson (25th), Lindsey Crevoiserat (26th), Cara Dorris (39th), & Charlotte Freeland (82nd) were the 5 scoring runners for the champions. Hanover was a strong 2nd, with LaSalle Academy rounding out the podium teams in 3rd.
Top 25 Individuals All-New England complete results click here
1 Leonardi, Abbey 9 ME-Kennebunk 18:12.7
2 Durgin, Emily 9 ME-Bonny Eagle 18:15.3
3 Caldwell, Heidi 11 NH-Hanover 18:29.9 1
4 Kenny, Moira 12 CT-Immaculate 18:33.2
5 Malloy, Kristen 12 CT-Glastonbu 18:36.1 2
6 Mace, Abby 9 ME-Maranacoo 18:43.2
7 McDonough, Caroline 12 CT-Darien 18:43.8
8 Moriello, Rosa 11 CT-Naugatuck 18:48.2
9 Hendry, Fiona 9 ME-Cheverus 18:49.4
10 Smith, Kelsey 10 NH-Exeter 18:50.2
11 Kalbian, Irene 12 CT-Cheshire 18:54.0
12 Eagan, Sarah 11 CT-Norwich Free 18:54.3 3
13 Dowe, Corey 10 NH-Coe-Brown 18:56.1 4
14 Tevnan, Brianna 10 NH-Merrimack Valley 18:57.2 5
15 Riley, Jenna 12 RI-Coventry 18:58.6 6
16 Espy, Adele 12 ME-Waynflete School 19:01.0 7
17 Nicholas, Jackie 10 CT-Nonnewaug 19:02.8
18 Rodriguez, Grace 12 NH-Hanover 19:05.0 8
19 Ryan, Meg 11 CT-Fairfield 19:06.2
20 Cotton, Sarah 9 CT-Daniel Hand 19:06.4
21 Shonbeck, Christina 11 NH-Con-Val 19:11.6
22 Christiansen, Jacy 10 NH-Mascenic 19:13.6
23 Sara, Lauren 11 CT-Bunnell 19:14.3
24 Rowe, Hannah 11 VT-St Johnsbury 19:14.3 9
25 Watson, Reid 9 CT-Glastonbu 19:15.8 10
Top 10 Team Scores
1 CT-Glastonbury High Schoo 80 2 10 11 16 41 45 129
Total Time: 1:37:02.90
Average: 19:24.58
2 NH-Hanover 150 1 8 15 28 98 103 136
Total Time: 1:38:16.30
Average: 19:39.26
3 RI-La Salle High School 188 21 33 35 49 50 67 88
Total Time: 1:40:43.70
Average: 20:08.74
4 CT-Wilton High School 201 17 27 38 56 63 75 80
Total Time: 1:40:59.40
Average: 20:11.88
5 CT-Guilford High School 205 22 24 34 51 74 99 132
Total Time: 1:40:58.40
Average: 20:11.68
6 ME-Cape Elizabeth High Sc 214 12 37 42 58 65 113 146
Total Time: 1:41:08.70
Average: 20:13.74
7 CT-Norwich Free Academy 246 3 26 57 78 82 93 170
Total Time: 1:41:13.00
Average: 20:14.60
8 RI-Barrington High School 287 13 30 54 70 120 174 181
Total Time: 1:42:21.90
Average: 20:28.38
9 RI-East Greenwich High Sc 312 29 66 69 72 76 150 154
Total Time: 1:43:16.80
Average: 20:39.36
10 NH-Merrimack Valley 331 5 31 73 97 125 134 142
Total Time: 1:42:38.30
Average: 20:31.66