76th New England HS XC Championship Girls Meet Preview
Top Teams
Vermont: The Division 1 Champion, Champlain Valley Union HS dominated the rest of the competition in VT all year. The Redhawks scored 28 points in winning the state title two weeks ago on the same course at the NE meet. They placed 3,4,5,6,10 to have all 5 scoring runners in the top 10. They averaged 20:47 over the difficult layout at Thetford Academy. While they lack a true front runner, but there pack time of 49 seconds should help them out. In the combined scoring of all 3 classes in VT, they won with a score of just 30 with all 5 scorers finishing in the top 13.
Maine: Class A state champion Cheverus dominated the competition all year long in Maine en route to a 2nd straight state title. The Lady Stags placed 5th as as a team last year becoming the highest placing team from the state of Maine at the NE meet ever. The Stags have the firepower to place even better this fall evidenced by there 2-3-4 finish at the state meet where they averaged 19:15.92 as a team for runner 1-5. Cheverus is led by defending NE champion Emily Durgin, her teammate Fiona Hendry is a 2 time ALL-NE selection as well. With two ALL-NE runners leading the way watch for Cheverus to open the eyes of some observers on Saturday.
New Hampshire: Manchester Central won both Div. 1 state title two weeks ago at Derryfield Park, averaging 20:06 when they won by 11 points over a strong Bishop Guertin team. The Little Green continued their excellence at the NH MOC last week, winning by 35 points this time, averaging 19:17. MC is led by the Conway sisters, Alexandra a senior (5th) 18:27 & Elizabeth a sophomore (9th) 18:31 give them a strong 1-2 punch. They are no strangers to success at the NE meet, last fall they placed 3rd.
Connecticut: Class LL & CT Open champions Glastonbury lead the CT into the NE meet. Last weekend the Tomahawks scored 77 points to win the State Open title by 58 points over Guilford. They were led by runner-up Lindsey Crevoiserat (18:18). Last fall Glastonbury placed 6th at the NE meet.
Rhode Island: Once again La Salle Academy is the top team in RI. The Rams are coming off a win at the RI All-State meet where they dominated the field with just 30 points to defeat runner-up Barrington by 22. La Salle won in impressive fashion with Molly Keating win leading the way (18:51.93), they placed 4th, 5th, 7th & 13th behind Keating for the win. The Rams averaged 19:23 over the course at Ponaganset HS. Last year they were the NE champions and will look to defend that title on Saturday. Barrington is another team to watch out for from RI. The runner-up to La Salle they averaged an impressive 19:45 last weekend at the All-State meet. The Eagles are led by senior Molly Malinowski (3rd)19:05 in addition to her they had 5 runners in the top 17. Last fall Barrington finished as the runner-ups at the NE meet.
Individuals
Defending champion Emily Durgin (Cheverus pictured left) will be looking to defend her title on Saturday. Durgin was the Maine state runner-up for the 3rd year in a row two weeks ago, clocking a season's best 18:03. Emily has been getting faster each week, and won't have to contend with her rival Abbey Leonardi (Kennebunk), who has opted for the 2nd straight year for rest instead of running the NE meet as she gets ready for the Footlocker regional. Durgin is no stranger to big meets, she won the NE meet last fall by 9 seconds, then finished 8th at the Footlocker NE region securing a spot in the FL National meet. Look for CT State Open champion Jackie Nicholas (Nonnewaug) to be in the mix as well. Nicholas ran 18:12 on the Wickham Park 5k course to take down one of the finest runners in NE and the country on the track Lindsey Crevoiserat (Glastonbury). Last fall Nicholas placed 12th, while Crevoiserat was 11th at the NE meet. Look for Crevoiserat to be hungry to avenge her loss to Nicholas, she is capable of wining it all, last week she clocked 18:18 at CT State Open. Watch out for NH MOC champion Chloe Maleski (Keene), she raced to a 12 second win last weekend with a fast 17:48.9 clocking. Maleski also won the Div. 1 title the week before running 18:02 on the famed course at Derryfield Park. Chloe was 17th in the meet last fall. Another NH harrier to keep an eye on is Kelsey Smith (Exeter), Smith has been the runner-up to Maleski the last two weekends. Smith clocked 18:00 at the NH MOC, last fall Smith showed she could handle tough conditions when she was the NE runner-up. In RI, Molly Keating (La Salle Academy)raced to the win at the RI All-State meet clocking 18:51 on the Ponaganset course, the previous week Keating triumphed to win the Class a Girls title. Last fall Molly placed 19th at the NE meet. The top VT runner from the state meet was Markie Palermo (Essex), who won the Div 1 state title running 19:58, the only runner under 20 on the Thetford Academy course, last fall Markie finished 84th at NE's.
MaineTrackXC's Individual Predictions
1. Emily Durgin (Cheverus)
2. Chloe Maleski (Keene)
3. Lindsey Crevoiserat (Glastonbury)
4. Jackie Nicholas (Nonnewaug)
5. Kelsey Smith (Exeter)
6. Molly Keating (La Salle Academy)
7. Fiona Hendry (Cheverus)
8. Molly Malinowski (Barrington)
9. Markie Palermo (Essex)
10. Dacie Manion (Old Town)
Team Predictions
1. La Salle Academy, RI
2. Cheverus, ME
3. Manchester Central, NH
4. Champlain Valley, VT
5. Glastonbury, CT
Defending champion Emily Durgin (Cheverus pictured left) will be looking to defend her title on Saturday. Durgin was the Maine state runner-up for the 3rd year in a row two weeks ago, clocking a season's best 18:03. Emily has been getting faster each week, and won't have to contend with her rival Abbey Leonardi (Kennebunk), who has opted for the 2nd straight year for rest instead of running the NE meet as she gets ready for the Footlocker regional. Durgin is no stranger to big meets, she won the NE meet last fall by 9 seconds, then finished 8th at the Footlocker NE region securing a spot in the FL National meet. Look for CT State Open champion Jackie Nicholas (Nonnewaug) to be in the mix as well. Nicholas ran 18:12 on the Wickham Park 5k course to take down one of the finest runners in NE and the country on the track Lindsey Crevoiserat (Glastonbury). Last fall Nicholas placed 12th, while Crevoiserat was 11th at the NE meet. Look for Crevoiserat to be hungry to avenge her loss to Nicholas, she is capable of wining it all, last week she clocked 18:18 at CT State Open. Watch out for NH MOC champion Chloe Maleski (Keene), she raced to a 12 second win last weekend with a fast 17:48.9 clocking. Maleski also won the Div. 1 title the week before running 18:02 on the famed course at Derryfield Park. Chloe was 17th in the meet last fall. Another NH harrier to keep an eye on is Kelsey Smith (Exeter), Smith has been the runner-up to Maleski the last two weekends. Smith clocked 18:00 at the NH MOC, last fall Smith showed she could handle tough conditions when she was the NE runner-up. In RI, Molly Keating (La Salle Academy)raced to the win at the RI All-State meet clocking 18:51 on the Ponaganset course, the previous week Keating triumphed to win the Class a Girls title. Last fall Molly placed 19th at the NE meet. The top VT runner from the state meet was Markie Palermo (Essex), who won the Div 1 state title running 19:58, the only runner under 20 on the Thetford Academy course, last fall Markie finished 84th at NE's.