Cross Country
Hanover boys win Moonlight Madness
With Ben Groves finishing first (15 minutes, 38 seconds) and teammate Isaac McNaughton back on the trail with a fourth-place finish, Hanover captured first place among 23 teams at Friday’s Moonlight Madness meet at the Cheshire Fairgrounds in Swanzey, N.H.
Aria Deeb won the girls race in a field of 135 and the Bears were second overall among 16 teams.
The Hanover boys had two other top-10 finishes. Dylan Faris was sixth and Teddy White eighth, with Oliver Collins 23rd and Rohan Novasad 25th to round out the scoring.
Deeb came across the line in 18:33 followed by Alice Bell (11th), Ari Hirschler (13th), Grace Stewart (14th), Edie Rojansky (27th), Milan De Gusel (29th) and Madelyn Berk (33rd). For the Mascoma boys, Carl Russell was 14th among 182 runners, with teammates Ransom Donigian 47th and Karson Rogers 51st). Paige Reney was first for the Mascoma girls, crossing in 32nd place.
The boys’ race went off at 8:30 p.m. and proved to be the most competitive ever at the fairgrounds.
“Hanover’s Ben Groves had to out-sprint to win, and Isaac McNaughton nearly caught Newfound Regional’s Colin Foster to finish fourth in 15:47,” Hanover assistant coach Dorcas DenHartog said in an email. Deeb, DenHartog said, went out first and “never looked back.”
Hanover freshman Cora Swenson won the girls junior varsity race and Hanover teammates Lily Van Citters, Hannah Eck, Aria Novosad and Margaret Hourdequin followed right behind to sweep the top five spots for a team win.. Hanover’s Jesse Bardach won the boys JV race in 17:50 and the boys were third overall.
Boys team scores: Hanover 34, Coe-Brown 45, Oyster River 95, Keene 99, Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) 198, Notre Dame West Haven (Conn.) 223, Portsmouth Christian 239, Monadnock 252, Concord 288, Winnacunnet 301; Mascoma 14th, 392.
Girls team scores: Oyster River 47, Hanover 57, Concord 106, Winnacunnet 117, Coe-Brown 131, Nashua North 165, Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) 165, Londonderry 215, Keene 251, Hollis-Brookline 318; Mascoma 11th, 319.