The Clipper Relays is a perfect way to kick off the Cross-Country season. The low key atmosphere, great competition, and the short course is just enough for the hard core Cross-Country coaches to get a peek at their team after a long summer of training. The meet takes place over the rolling hills of beautiful Maudsley State Park in Newburyport. The meet has mostly North Shore teams, but a few other select schools from Maine, New Hampshire, and around Massachusetts were in attendance on a picture perfect day.
Each school divides their team into multiple teams of three with each runner racing a 2 Mile loop. In the girls race, the team from Beverly is off to a fast start as they shattered the meet record.. After the first two legs, the team from Exeter, NH had a commanding lead but in the end it was the team of Abby Walsh, Lexi Sutyak, and Julia Curtin crushing the course record running 34:35 for the six mile loop. The Panthers struggled at the end of last season, as they missed qualifying for the All State finals in the tough division 2 race, but it sure looks like they are a serious contender in 2015.
The team from Exeter High School Finished 2nd (36:16), and Dracut High School was 3rd place (36:25).
The Boys race started of with Peabody High School Junior Marcelo Rocha handing the baton off around the 9:40 range, but Zach Manikas-Hill was right on his heals. The Minutemen hammered it home the next 4 miles and just missingthe course record running 30:09. The winning team was Manikas-Hill, Thomas Lingard, and Bobb Mackenzie.
The best six runners of the day was dominated by the best team in Massachusetts in Lowell high School. The defending All State Champions finished second and third place overall. The team that finished 2nd place (30:29) was Jonathan Valenzuela, Chris Gendron, and David Crueger-Cain. The third place team (30:33) had Chris Polanco, Anthony Rodriguez, and Sean Bryan.
Meet Photos (coming soon)
Meet Video (coming soon)