The MVRHS boys and girls cross-country teams competed against more than 1,500 runners from across New England in the 44th Manchester Invitational, held Saturday at Derryfield Park in Manchester, N.H.
Running in the Small Schools Division, the Vineyard varsity boys had themselves quite a day, placing eighth among harriers from 47 schools in the 5K race. The top 10 finish was the third for the Vineyarders in 15 appearances at Derryfield. “There was only one kid on the team, Owen Porterfield, who had run the 5K course, so this was a whole new experience for virtually the entire team,” Vineyard Coach Joe Schroeder said. “Catherine [Cherry] and Peter [Burke] had run the freshman course.”
Peter Burke led the way for the varsity boys, finishing 20th of 317 runners with a time of 17:24. Owen Porterfield was next for MV, placing 54th overall in 17:57. Kieran Karabees ran 75th (18:17), followed by Isaac Richards (84th, 18:29); Owen Atkins (104th, 18:51); Daniel Rivard (135th, 19:15); and Nate Porterfield (152nd, 19:26). All told, with the top five times added up, the varsity boys earned 326 points, with an average time of 18:12, a total time of 1:30:58, and a gap of just 1:27 between runners one through five.
“They ran really as a tight pack,” Coach Schroeder said of the varsity boys. “They were really pumped.”
In the girls varsity race, Catherine Cherry ran the 5K course in 20:41, good for 23rd place among 257 runners. Amber Cuthbert (22:11) was 76th.
Burke and Cherry medaled for their top-25 finishes in the varsity races, as did Zach Utz, who ran an outstanding 11th out of 275 runners in the 2.1-mile freshmen boys race, posting a time of 12:01. Jonathan Norton was 62nd (13:22), Henry D’Andrea, 127th (14:28), Duncan Brown, 164th (15:50) and Calvin Brooks, 175th (15:53). Kailyn Freeman was the lone Vineyard runner among 144 freshman girls, and placed 45th in 16:23.
Six Vineyarders competed in the JV ‘B’ races. Tom Sykes was 132nd in a large field of 334, reaching the finish line in 20:33. JoJo Bonneau clocked in at 20:54 to place 142nd, with Ethan Creato (174th, 21:55), Matthew D’Andrea (176th, 21:59), and Owen Steenkamp (228th, 24:36) rounding out the boys results. Margaret Sykes ran 123rd of 245 in the girls race.
Following the event, the Vineyard harriers headed to Millinocket, Maine, for a rafting trip on the Penobscot River. “We weren’t as tight a pack on the river as we were at the Invitational,” Coach Schroeder said with a laugh.
Next up on the race schedule is a Cape and Islands League meet with St. John Paul II at MVRHS on Saturday, with an approximate start of 11:30 am.
