MANCHESTER — With four runners in the top 20, the Hanover High boys cross country team placed second among 26 schools at Saturday’s Manchester Invitational at Derryfield Park, with Thetford 12th and Lebanon 15th.
Hanover coach Eric Picconi said the boys started out front and were able to hold their position throughout the race.
“Their formula worked,” Picconi said. “The girls raced hard but got a bit gobbled up at the start and, with so many racers, found themselves having to battle their way around other runners on a tight course to move up. Both teams ran with heart, and the coaches could not be more proud.”
Thetford was led by senior Tobin Durham, who finished fourth overall among 226 runners in 17:05. Lebanon’s top runner was Carson Jones in 67th with a time of 19:19.
Hanover’s top four runners finished within a minute of each other. Spencer May (17:15) was sixth overall with teammate Mack Levy in 10th (17:34), Luke Holmes 15th (17:42) and Will Parker 19th (17:45). Rounding out the scoring for Hanover was Caleb Zuckerman in 51st (18:50).
Thetford sophomore Ben Mattern was 57th (18:58), freshman Brady Sloop was 58th (18:58), freshman Garrett Spelman took 142nd (21:20) and sophomore Jasper Jones was 145th (21:27) to score points for the Panthers.
Lebanon’s other scoring finishers were seniors Ethan Eshbaugh in 86th (19:43), Sam Shipman in 90th (19:51), Micah Achmoody in 100th (20:11) and junior Samuel Nichols in 107th (20:20).
The Thetford girls were 10th with senior Madelyn Durkee finishing 10th (20:26) overall among 202 runners. Hanover’s girls were 11th and Lebanon 16th.
Behind Durkee, Thetford was led by sophomores Annie Hesser in 47th (22:31), freshman Ava Hayden in 52nd, (22:40), sophomore Charlize Brown in 95th and junior Jada Rich in 118th (25:36).
Sophomore Sarah Glueck led the Hanover girls with a 21st-place finish in 21:06. Also scoring were senior Charlotte Tagupa in 50th, (22:36), junior Lauren Eiler in 62nd (23:04), sophomore Ayla Wager in 94th, (24:16) and sophomore Lily Terry in 96th (24:29).
For Lebanon, junior Isabella Hastings was 46th overall (22:29). Senior Zoe Chinn folowed in 51st (22:37), junior Ella Gessner was 74th (23:35) senior Abbie Baker was 141st (26:49) and junior Morgan Kanter took 152nd (27:57).
Hanover runs at Kearsarge on Saturday while Lebanon and Thetford are at the Thetford Woods Trail Run, also on Saturday.
BERLIN, N.H. — On the strength of four top-10 finishes, the Mascoma boys won the Berlin Homecoming meet over Berlin, Prospect Mountain and White Mountains.
Leading the Royals was freshman Gunner Currier in fourth, senior Jack Buffington in fifth, Davey Caron in sixth and Michael Loynds in 10th.
Only two teams fielded full teams for the girls, with Mascoma finishing behind Prospect Mountain. Leading the Royals’ were junior Elena Trempe in fourth, Leah Caron in sixth and Danni Caron in eighth.
Up next for the Royals is the Mascoma Homecoming meet on Tuesday.
BELMONT, N.H. — CJ Childs scored the first touchdown less than three minutes into the game, and the Raiders (4-0) rolled to keep pace with Hanover atop the NHIAA Division II West ladder.
Lebanon built a 28-0 lead on two Childs scoring runs, one from Nyeoti Punni and a Jackson Stone TD punt return. Punni took a kick-return pitch from Cole Shambo to race for a second-half touchdown, adding a third TD later after Shambo produced one of his own.
Tanner Ames was 6-for-7 on PAT kicks for the Raiders, who host Souhegan on Friday.
POULTNEY, Vt. — The Wasps (3-1) jumped to an early 14-0 lead, expanded to 35-7 by halftime and cruised past the Blue Devils.
Woodstock is scheduled to host Missisquoi on Friday. The Thunderbirds forfeited their Saturday game at Windsor due to a lack of healthy players.
BRADFORD, Vt. — The Olympians could not get any offense going against the Cosmos, sustaining their second straight shutout defeat.
Oxbow (0-3) is at Mill River on Saturday.
RUTLAND — Sophomore Ezra Lockhart nailed down the win with his second goal of the day late in the game with the Wasps leading, 2-1.
“Lockhart made sure of the win, knocking down a clearance from a Rutland defender and running on to the loose ball to score with 15 minutes remaining,” said Woodstock coach Rob Stainton.
Woodstock opened the scoring 15 minutes into the match when senior Jackson Martsolf-Tan tucked the ball under the keeper from a Lockhart through ball. Lockhart got his first goal when he took a through ball from junior Declan McCollough and slotted it past the keeper.
Michael LaCroix had two saves for Woodstock (3-3).
“An all-around great team performance,” Stainton said. “The players are working hard for each other and today reaped the benefit.”
Woodstock is at Stratton Mountain on Monday.
KINGSTON, N.H. — The Raiders got a goal and two assists from senior Ryan Oliveira for the win.
Sophomore Nick Brill put Lebanon up at the 5:30 mark on an assist by senior Daniel Mladek. A minute later, the second goal was scored off a corner kick from Oliveira that was flicked by Brill and tapped in by senior Krists Putans.
Oliveira scored on an assist from senior Griffin Auch at 20 minutes to finish the half with a 3-0 lead. Junior Angus Hall scored the final goal on Oliveira’s second assist in the 54th minute.
Easton Wykes — taking over for the injured Colbie Delisle — was in goal for 65 minutes with no save opportunities. Zach Aldrich had four saves in his 15 minutes in goal.
Lebanon (7-0-0) plays at Oyster River on Tuesday.
NEWPORT, Vt. — The Falcons were up, 4-0, at halftime and scored twice more in the second half.
The Panthers avoided the shutout on a penalty kick by senior Elliot Jones, his fourth goal of the season. Sophomore Justin Robinson made 10 saves, and freshman Boone Fahey made two in relief for the Panthers.
Thetford hosts Lamoille on Tuesday.
ORFORD — Senior Mason Gauthier’s goal with five minutes left allowed White River Valley to play Rivendell to a draw.
Sophomore Cory Darling-Salls assisted on the goal and senior Donovan Forcier had seven saves for the Wildcats. Junior Derek Vogelien scored off a defensive mistake for the Raptors.
“Rivendell is a very good team, so we knew it was going to take a complete effort to get something out of the game. Very pleased with every one of my players,” said WRV coach Alex Montano.
WRV (2-3-1) plays Tuesday at Twin Valley. Rivendell (5-2-1) plays at Sharon on Tuesday.
HOPKINTON, N.H. — The Royals kept the match close until two late Hopkinton goals.
After going down 2-0, senior Ben Seiler brought Mascoma within one on a penalty kick in the 38th minute.
Hopkinton opened a 3-2 lead just after a halftime before Mascoma again cut the deficit to one on a goal by sophomore James Thomas off a free kick by senior Ian Moulton. Hopkinton put the match away with goals in the 55th and 64th minute.
“They could not have played harder,” said Mascoma coach Keli Green. “Ben (Seiler) had a great game and not a single player left anything in the tank. It was a tremendous performance.”
KINGSTON, N.H. — Lebanon got on the board early and used that momentum to break a two-match slide.
Sophomore Sophie Longacre got the Raiders going when she crossed to junior Delaney Deshane for a shot that rolled into the net at the three-minute mark for her first of three goals on the day.
Deshane had her second goal, unassisted from a goal kick, and Mary Rainey curled in a corner kick followed by Deshane’s third goal on an from assist Catherine Cole. Longacre finished the scoring on a unassisted goal.
Lebanon (5-2) hosts Oyster River on Tuesday and will be wearing purple socks for Alzheimer’s awareness. The team has raised over $2,000 so far.
LACONIA, N.H. — The Royals kept the match scoreless in the first half, but Laconia erupted for five goals after the break, two each from Makenzie LaFlamme and Renee Bergeron.
Mascoma (0-7-0) at is at Newfound on Wednesday.
ORFORD — A goal by senior Wynter Simack four minutes into the first overtime on a scrum in front of the net gave the Wildcats the win in a hard-fought contest with scoring opportunities and strong goalkeeping.
Junior Jillian Barry assisted on the Simack’s goal and Ellie Prestridge had three saves for WRV.
“The Rivendell keeper (senior Savannah Gray) kept them in the game,” White River Valley coach Kim Prestidge said. “Ellie Prestridge came up with a big save early on, but the Wildcats fought to the ball all game and controlled the ball for most of the contest.”
Rivendell has a well-organized defense,” Prestridge added. “We had a hard time breaking through. But we kept trying and kept working together and playing our game. Our defense is so great anticipating that we were able to close out many of the counter attacks before they developed.”
Rivendell coach Tim Goodwin said it was a well-played game by both teams and praised his team’s defensive effort and the goal keeping of senior Savannah Gray.
Rivendell, (3-3-1) plays at Stratton Mountain on Tuesday. WRV (5-1-0) is at Windsor on Tuesday.
POULTNEY, Vt. — The Blue Devils scored in the 20th and 70th minute for the win.
“We had a couple of good chances but could not score,” said Sharon coach Andy Ruddell.
Backup goalie junior Maeve Miller had six saves. Sharon (1-4-0) travels to Proctor on Tuesday.
WINDSOR — The Yellowjackets came back from a 2-0 deficit to score three times and take a one-goal lead at the half but could not match the Bears in the second half.
Seniors Elliot Rupp and Holly Putnam and sophomore Olivia MacLeay scored for Windsor. Rupp also had an assist. Freshman Sophia Rockwood had 13 saves in the loss. Merrit Long had two goals for Stratton Mountain.
“We knew going into this game that Stratton was going to be physical and athletic. We had our moments of playing great soccer, but their athleticism wore us down and they took advantage in the second half,” said Windsor coach Jeff Bachey.
Windsor (1-5-0) is home to White River Valley on Tuesday.
PELHAM, N.H. — Seniors Molly Smith (three goals, an assist) and Amelia Hickey (two goals, one assist) led the Raiders in the rout.
Also part of the big scoring day were seniors Sally Tretter with a goal and three assists and Clara Smyrski, who had a goal and an assist. The other goal was scored by senior Abigail Pauls, and juniors Meagan Thompson and Keira Houdegbe had an assist each.
“Nice passing and strong defensive play all around,” said coach Amanda Valliere. “It was a great, full team effort.”
Junior goalkeeper Ashlee Blashock had two saves. Lebanon (7-0-1) is at Souhegan on Tuesday.
PETERBOROUGH, N.H. — The absence of some key players didn’t seem to matter as Hanover got two goals each from seniors Livvy Trummel and Gail Morse to improve to 7-0-1.
Morse also had two assists and Trummel one.
Senior Mia Edmonds, who also had an assist, opened the scoring for Hanover, which also got goals from freshman Maggie Higgins and Hannah Boone and assists from junior Emily Perras and Savanna Walczak. Boone and Walczak were brought up from junior varsity for the game.
Junior Reilly Loughman had the win in goal.
“The key today was that we were able to go deeper into the bench and not lose a beat. Eva Bell, Sadie Higgins, Caroline Healy and Eliza Sumner all really stepped up to help us get this win,” said Hanover coach Jean Essex. “Their contributions, along with some key minutes from JV players Hannah Boone, Sophia Costa and Savanna Walczak, made all the difference.”
Hanover travels to Pembroke on Tuesday.
GILFORD, N.H. — Sophomor Katie Sharron had the Tigers’ goal on an assist by sophomore Eden Ritondo.
“Jazmyn McNamara did a great job on offensive wing, and Maddox Lovely played great at midfield,” said Newport coach Kaitlyn Porter.
Newport (2-4-0) is at St. Thomas on Thursday.