Nobody had to ask “What’s a Highlander?” when the Harwood Union cross-country team unloaded from the buses at the U-32 Invitational on Saturday, September 17. Everyone there knew the history and tradition of Harwood running. But even the most dedicated follower of the sport had to be in awe as three busloads of runners were dropped off onto the U-32 lawn.
“Between the high school and the middle school, we have over 100 kids on our team,” said high school head coach John Kerrigan before the races began. “I think the other teams will be seeing black and gold in their sleep tonight.”
Cross-country running may not seem like a true team sport, but the Harwood runners worked as a team on Saturday. About halfway through the race Harwood’s top varsity runner, Noah Eckstein, seemed to be ailing. As the No. 2 runner, Daniel Bevacqui, was catching up to him, Kerrigan was heard to shout, “Get on his shoulder and help him out!” The two ran together the rest of the way, with Bevacqui giving Eckstein the encouragement he needed to finish seventh in 18:09 and Bevacqui was eighth, two seconds behind.
Similarly, a few places behind No. 5 runner Tristian Touchette was passed by No. 6 runner Brendan Magill with just a half mile to go. “All the sudden I see little Magill going by me on the left,” Touchette said later. “I knew I had to pick it up some.”
Touchette did pick it up, finishing 24th while Magill ended up 31st. Other varsity finishers were Anthony Palmerio, 10th (giving Harwood three top 10 finishers); Colin Fennelly, 16th; and Jesse Bisbee, 83rd.
“Noah was not feeling well today,” Kerrigan said after the race, “but Daniel helped him along. Noah was not going to let Daniel beat him,” Kerrigan added with a smile. “And Anthony had a breakout race – he’s within a few seconds of Daniel, which will make both of them faster. The whole varsity boys’ team really had to work hard and work together today and the results showed with their second-place finish.”
In the girls’ varsity race, Erin Magill finished first with a time of 20:18. It was her first win in a major invitational. “I really like this course,” she said after the race. “It loops around a football field about 4 kilometers in. I was able to look back and see that Ani (Anneka Williams) was not far behind.”
Williams finished third. Other varsity finishers were Phoebe Sweet, 20th; Lily Clark, 24th; Isabel Jamieson, 37th; Katie Ferguson, 42nd; and Nicole Cutler, 56th.
The Highlanders ended up in second place behind only Division 1 powerhouse Mount Mansfield. “Erin led the whole race and Anneka had her best race in a year," Kerrigan said. “Next week we’ll be moving Julianne (Young) and Willa (Yonkman) up to varsity. That’s going to push the other girls to be even better.”
In the junior varsity races, both the boys and girls finished second. Freshman Finn Sweet led the boys’ team with a third-place finish in 19:16, while freshmen Young (second, 21:59) and Yonkman (seventh, 23:44) led the girls’ team. Both JV teams finished in second place.
“The depth of our program is amazing,” said Kerrigan. “All the varsity and JV teams finished second. Add to that the middle school taking home a first (boys) and a fourth (girls) and you can see why the Highlanders are perennial contenders.”
During the day’s races, one could see the high-schoolers cheering for the middle school team and middle-schoolers stayed to cheer on the high-schoolers.
“I work closely with Lou [middle school coach Lou Bevacqui] to make sure that we are on the same page as to our training. His program feeds our program and the reputation of our program helps feed his program. It’s like a giant snowball; it goes round and round getting better and better,” Kerrigan added.
This week the varsity Highlanders travel to Manchester, New Hampshire, for the New England Small School Championship, while the junior varsity team will be at the Randolph Invitational.
