Michael Upton sure is off to a hot start this cross-country season.
For the third time in as many weekends, the Catholic Memorial junior emerged victorious in a statewide competition. After capturing individual titles at the Vineyard XC Invitational on Sept. 7 and last Saturday’s Highland Park Invitational, Upton bested a field of 180 runners to win the Small School race of the 49th annual Manchester Invitational. On Saturday, the CM standout clocked a time of 16 minutes, 32.30 seconds on a very-challenging 5K terrain at Derryfield Park in New Hampshire.
It turned out to be twice as nice for the Knights at the Manchester Invite.. In addition to Upton’s individual honors, Catholic Memorial also took the team hardware with 93 points, six more than Coe Brown (NH). Alonquin was fifth (180 points) and Walpole was sixth (187 points).
Senior Daniel Norton was tenth overall for the Knights with a time of 17:08.10. The remaining scorers for Catholic Memorial, which averaged 16:58 by its runners, were senior Daniel Norton (tenth, 17:08). freshman Gerard Stock (29th, 17:49.60), senior Gavin Carey (30th, 17:50.50) and sophomore Daniel Kaleba (35th, 18:03.10). Walpole’s Luke Zahurak cracked the top 10, finishing fifth in 16:43.30.
Brookline, ranked No. 4 in the recent MSTCA XC Poll, was second in the Large School race with 126 points. East Lyme (CT) took the team title by scoring 76 points.
Leading the way for Brookline was senior Altamo Aschkenasy with a time of 16:22.30. He was followed by Lysander Duffield (ninth, 16:27.7), junior Theodore Butty (20th, 16:57), sophomore Liam Hartman (30th, 17:11.1) and senior William Stone (66th, 17:47.20).
Showcasing its outstanding depth, Brookline also won the freshmen and JV titles, too. The Warriors scored 93 points to beat runner-up Hanover (177 points in the frosh meet. In the JV ‘C’ race. Brookline swept the first four placements with sophomore Aydin Armstrong breaking the tape in 11:16.50 for the two-mile distance.
For the girls, sophomore Madison Roach of Needham captured the JV ‘B’ race in 21:55.70. The Rockets’ Sidney Gilbreth was ninth in 22:38.80. As a team, Needham was second to Champlain Valley with 59 points.
Needham sophomore Ava Conti was a convincing winner in the JV ‘C’ race with time of 13:40.10 for the two-mile course.. Laila Roos was eighth in 15:02.50.
Click on links blow for results and photos. For more coverage of the Manchester Invitational to our sister site, nh.staterunning.net. For quick access to results and photos , click below.
