Great Glen Invitational 9/08/19

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Great Glen Champions!

What a beautiful backdrop for a successful day! Although Mt. Washington never completely came out of the clouds, the air was dry and the temperatures were cool, perfect conditions for some early season racing. After rolling out of the school parking lot at 6:35 (our best start ever!), two hours later we were at the course. Great Glen is certainly one of the most eclectic races in the state, with teams fro every corner of the state, including three of the largest and highest ranked boys teams (Keene, Pinkerton, and Nashua North), along with some of the smallest (Pittsburg/Canaan, Gorham, Profile). While the aforementioned boys teams were all ranked in the top 10 statewide, no top 10 girls teams were there, although Hanover is 4th ranked in DII and one of the states most continually successful teams.

Being an Invitational, the JV races started off the day. With the promise of a t-shirt to the top ten, Nicole and Carlie each got out to great starts. While she slipped to 11th with a mile to go, Nicole rallied over the final stretch to finish 10th and snag the first t-shirt of the day. Carlie ran a great race, finishing only 40 seconds behind in 15th. Smiley MacNeill (18th), and Anna "Herrmannator"(29th) each ran under 30 minutes, while Emmaleigh (30th), Alexis (35th), Victoria (36th), and Taylor (39th) rounded out the JV team.

We had five toe the line for the boys JV race, with Jack finishing as the top MV boy in 42nd place. Tim ran a great race to place 50th, as did Ryan in 59th. Aidan (81st) was successful in simply running, as it was his first run in several days, while Mitchell ran one of his best times ever to finish 82nd).

In the girls varsity, the team depth was not quite as intimidating as on the boys side, but Hanover had placed ahead of us earlier in the week at home, while Kennett, with it's massive roster, is always a solid team come State Meet time. Early in the race, the work we'd put in over the early season to operate as a team was evident, as 1/2 mile into the race the Sophia's were side-by-side in first, having put Tuesday's meet winner from Hanover in the rear-view. Not far behind was Emma and Sam (surprise!), and it was hard to tell who was happier - Samantha for keeping up with Emma or Emma when she realized Sam was right with her. The smile on Emma's face at that moment, knowing that a teammate was with her, was the highlight of the day for this coach. There was zero competition between them, only shared strength from knowing a teammate was near. Maddy quickly zoomed by, and at that moment it became obvious that it would be a good day, better than good if Sam could hang on. I was able to make it to near the 2 mile mark, and things were looking good up front. Sophia10 was about 10 meters ahead of Sophia9, and no one else was in sight. A slight misdirection by the leading Sophia, and they were back together again. Emma was still running well in 5th, while Samantha...was hanging on! 11th, but looking great! And Maddy was just behind! At the finish line, Sophia9 crossed as the girls winner, with Sophia10 crossed a few seconds later, giving up a bit over the final mile with a tweaked ankle. Emma crossed in 6th, while Sam had her breakthrough race (nice when it comes early!), catching one girl for good measure to place 10th and earning MV a total of 5 t-shirts. Maddy stayed strong to place 22nd, while Violet again had solid race for MV, finishing 45th, and Cassidy, a late addition to varsity due to Theresa's being sick, ran a solid race to finish 49th. In the end, the girls took home the 1st place plaque for the first time ever, and recorded a win over Hanover, something I'm not sure has happened before (is that possible?).

On to the boys race, where the big guns from Keene, Pinkerton, and Nashua North were ready to roll. The MV boys could've cared less who else was lined up, they just wanted to run. These guys have done nothing but impress us with their racing ability, and today was nothing different. Ethan ran a fantastic race, never backing down and ran a crazy fast time, blowing away his PR to run a 17:48 in 16th. He was also only the second DII runner to cross the line, and that's only because he got nipped at the line by a Hanover runner. The rest of the boys were not far behind either, as each had their best race to date. Christian used his trademark kick to fly by 5 or 6 runners over the final meters to finish in 35th, while Mark was just behind in 38th, running under 19 for the first time. As a freshman! Breaking 20 for perhaps the first time and finishing 4th for the team was Isaac "Space Bear", with his own kick, and finishing as MV's all-important 5th runner in 20:22 was Elisha. Barely a second back, and knocking on the door of the 20-minute barrier himself was Marshall, while Oliver demonstrated that he belonged in the varsity race, breaking 22 minutes and placing 79th. The boys placed 6th of 13 scoring teams, once again surpassing expectations.

T-Shirt Winners!