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Swampscott High senior Peter Hale has a fairly modest goal heading into cross country’s championship season: his aim is to finish better than he did as a junior. When you realize that he was the runner-up at both the Northeastern Conference championship and the Eastern Mass. Division 5 meet, those goals become a bit loftier. Hale, who won the league’s 2-mile title in both indoor and outdoor track last year, has the look of a favorite in tomorrow NEC championships being run at Bradley Palmer State Park (1 p.m.).