Local roundup: Lebanon’s Harriman victorious at Woods Trail

THETFORD — Nearly one thousand runners descended on Thetford Academy for the annual Woods Trail Invitational on Saturday. Lebanon’s Birhanu Harriman won the boys individual title by more than seven seconds to lead a strong contingent of area runners in this event bringing together the best high school cross country teams from all around New England.

Harriman blazed around the trail in 16 minutes, 28.94 seconds, an improvement of his time from the New England Championship meet on the same course a season ago. Raiders teammate Thomas Wolfe also impressed, finishing 13th out of 553 runners in the boys event in 17:35.53. Carson Jones (67th, 18:46.37) and Angus Hall (72nd, 18:56.24) also had strong showings for the Raiders.

William Obbard finished 33rd for Woodstock in 18:03.23, ahead of teammate James Underwood in 38th (18:17.09). Danny Smith took 64th for the Wasps in 18:44.94.

Brady Sloop led the host Thetford boys in 66th, clocking in at 18:45.13. The Panthers also had Jasper Jones in 187th, Max Leibon in 198th, Harley Ransom in 203rd and Ramona Spelman in 204th.

Lincoln Miller finished 110th for White River Valley in 19:47.40. Gavin Farnsworth (118th, 19:53.13), Jack Fournier-Stephens (147th) and Bennett Moreno (182nd) led the Hartford boys. Windsor’s Liam Attwood was 277th.

Anita Miller had a top-10 finish for White River Valley in the girls race, in 20:50.04. Teammate Anya Young took 20th in 21:28.21.

Lebanon’s Izzy Hastings finished 26th in the girls race in 21:39.89, an improvement of over 40 seconds from her time in this event last year. Raiders teammates Sarah Smith (112th) and Ella Gessner (125th) also had good showings.

Madelyn Durkee led the hometown Panthers girls in 53rd (22:36.15) out of 440 runners. Thetford also had Ava Hayden in 65th, Charlize Brown in 127th and Annie Hesser in 135th.

Logan Knox finished 51st for the Woodstock girls in 22:30.62, followed by Izzy Cellini in 97th, Myra McNaughton in 108th and Lila Beckwith in 175th. Hartford’s Rylee Burnham was 204th and Sophia Rockwood finished 257th for Windsor.

Girls team scores, out of 34 teams: 1. CVU 49, 2. Essex 164, 3. Hopkinton 192, 13. Thetford 425, 20. Woodstock 551.

Boys team scores, out of 46 teams: 1. St. Johnsbury 103, 2. CVU 113, 3. Barrington (R.I.) 159, 7. Lebanon 260, 17. Woodstock 554, 25. Thetford 692, 30. Hartford 906.

NORTHWOOD, N.H. — Lea Perreard finished fourth place in the girls race to lead second-place Hanover at the Black Bear Invitational, hosted by Coe-Brown Northwood Academy.

Perreard was fourth out of 80 runners in the girls race in 19:28. Teammate Lila Muirhead was 12th in 21:17, followed by Sarah Glueck in 18th, Matilda Monroe in 19th and Lauren Eiler in 24th.

Lucian Gleiser led the Hanover boys in 13th out of 98 runners in 17:18. The Bears also had scoring runs by Ryan Faris in 18th, Will Parker in 22nd, Alexander Valentino in 29th and Ben Hourdequin in 30th.

Girls team scores, out of 10 teams: 1. Phillips Exeter 55, 2. Hanover 77, 3. Winnacunnet 85.

Boys team scores, out of 14 teams 1. Phillips Exeter 37, 2. Coe-Brown 49, 3. Bishop Guertin 93, 4. Hanover 112.

ENFIELD — The Royals finished third in the NHIAA state championship, held at home on Mascoma Lake.

Mascoma’s duo of sophomores Tanner Moulton and Peyton Sargent caught eight fish — five small-mouth and three large-mouth bass — for a total weight of 14.5 pounds. Coe-Brown finished in first place with Bedford in second.

Conditions were cool and foggy during the early portion of the event, which began at 8 a.m. and ran until 2 p.m. Mascoma did not catch its first fish until two-plus hours in, and reached the eight-fish limit in the final two minutes.

“They did a really good job keeping their heads down all day long,” Royals coach Eric Moulton. “When you only get eight bites in six hours, that means there’s a lot of downtime in there. They did a great job working for that next bite right up to the last minute.”

WEST CANAAN — The Royals scored all three of their goals in an explosive second quarter to lead the way in a homecoming win.

Freshman Makenna Houston scored the first two for Mascoma (4-5-1). Ann Buffington added the third and final goal.

“Today was homecoming and each player picked up the intensity to make sure we came away with the win,” Mascoma coach Danielle Pushee said.

Pushee praised the defensive work of Izzy Adams in front of goalie Gabby Pierce (six saves), along with the all-around play of freshman Ellie McGrody.

Mascoma visits Lebanon on Monday.

HANOVER — Josie Laabs had two goals to lead the Bears (5-3-0) in a strong win over visiting Oyster River (6-4-0) in Hanover’s fourth game in five days.

Maggie Higgins added the other goal for the Bears. Sophia Costa and Janina Li each had an assist. Goalie Reilly Loughman made a high stick-side save in the fourth quarter to help preserve the two-goal lead for Hanover.

“It was great to have so many people involved in the scoring and to go deeper into the bench. The girls really rallied and supported each other to take the win,” Hanover coach Jean Essex said.

The Bears now get just one day of rest before returning to visit Bow on Monday.

ORFORD — Sarah Rule converted on a Jillian Barry corner kick for the game’s only goal to help the Wildcats (6-2-0) top the Raptors (3-6-0).

“Our passing and communication stood out today. We really had our heads up looking for teammates and getting the ball across the field,” Wildcats coach Kim Prestridge said.

WRV outshot Rivendell by a 14-1 margin and had seven corner kicks. Prestridge commented on a very strong overall team defensive effort for the Wildcats in helping stifle Rivendell at nearly every turn.

“(Keeper) Ryleigh Butler was a game-changer in the net for Rivendell. Her punts were part of nearly every offensive effort for Rivendell,” Prestridge added.

Both teams play next at Sharon; Rivendell on Tuesday and WRV on Thursday.

GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — The Bears (4-6-0) used a dominant second half to pull away from the Grizzlies.

Hanover scored five minutes into the action off a corner play and then battled for the rest of the half before the hosts scored an equalizer in the 30th minute. Hanover answered just before halftime to retake the lead and then played what coach Doug Kennedy called a dominant half on both sides of the ball after the break to cap a quality road win.

Syd McLaughlin, Maeve Lee, Emma Campfield and Riley McGuire all scored for Hanover. Reese Hamlin and Nora Bradley had assists. Sadie Ross and Jess Lobb split time in net, making seven saves combined. 

The Bears visit Exeter on Tuesday.

WEST CANAAN — Tanner Moulton capped a busy day with a goal and an assist to help the Royals blank Raymond and improve to 8-2.

Moulton began his Saturday by competing in the NHIAA bass fishing state championship at Mascoma Lake before arriving in time to start on the soccer pitch for the Royals. Moulton scored the game’s first goal, with an assist to Brayden Pierce, to put the hosts in front for good.

Pierce added the second goal and Grant Suttie made it 3-0 at halftime with his goal. Zach Thompson assisted on both. James Thomas and Suttie each added goals after the break, including Suttie converting on a set piece with an assist from Moulton.

Mascoma visits Belmont on Tuesday.

ORFORD — The Raptors (7-1-0) kept it rolling with a win over the visiting Wildcats.

Rivendell now rests for a week and plays at Bellows Falls on Saturday. WRV is back in action at Sharon on Monday.

HINESBURG, Vt. — The Hurricanes came up short in a tight battle at CVU, dropping to 2-3 on the season.

CVU scored an opening touchdown and led, 7-0, after the first quarter. Brody Tyburski answered with an 11-yard touchdown run in the second for Hartford, but the Canes missed the extra point and trailed, 14-6, at halftime.

Tyburski then returned the opening kickoff of the third quarter 85 yards to give Hartford an instant burst of momentum, which didn’t quite last long enough as the Canes failed to convert the 2-point conversion attempt and remained down. CVU would then lead, 21-12, after three and would hold on for the win.

Hartford now looks ahead to homecoming on Friday night against Middlebury.

WINDSOR — The Yellowjackets continued their dominance of Division III foes with a blowout win over the visiting Otters. Windsor (5-0) visits Springfield on Saturday.

SWANTON, Vt. — The Wasps built a 40-0 lead at halftime in a comfortable win on the road. Woodstock (3-2) will host BFA-Fairfax on Friday night.

BRADFORD, Vt. — The Olympians fell to 2-3 with the loss to the visiting Cosmos. Up next for Oxbow is a visit to Milton on Friday night.

WEST CANAAN — The Royals lost a heartbreaker in five sets, despite winning the first two by scores of 25-16 and 25-22. Raymond then added wins of 30-28, 25-23 and 15-6 in the third-set tiebreaker.

Mascoma visits Belmont on Monday.