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Northeast Region
Bowdoin State Park, Wappingers Falls NY
November 24, 2007

ME - VT - NH - RI - CT - MA - NJ - PA
Winners Table (results, pix)

Preview | Entries
Schedule
Prior Years
the meet's own web site

B: NE#2 Brookline MA 86, NE#1 Danbury CT 87
G: NE#3 Wicked TC (Lincoln-Sudbury MA) 69, NE#2 Hunterdon Hawks (Voorhees NJ) 73


Mass. Teams Put Big Chill on NE Regional Rivals - Lead Report by Matt Soja


John Nepolitan action album
NTN Webcast - Regional highlights online on Nov. 15, Nov. 22 and 29, followed by live webcast Dec. 1 of NTN finals in Portland.


The boys winners from Brookline TC (Brookline MA). Photo by John Nepolitan


The girls winners from Wicked TC (Lincoln-Sudbury MA). Photo by John Nepolitan


Mass. Teams Put Big Chill on NE Regional Rivals

Lead Report By Matt Soja

The first NTN Northeast Regional meet was a far cry from the dog days of summer, when most of the top teams were putting in thousands of miles of collective mileage in hopes of winning the ticket to Oregon for the NTN Nationals. The temperatures hovered just above freezing and the chilly breeze flowed over the Hudson and up the banks of Bowdoin Park. Double-world champion Bernard Lagat’s presence and hot noodles at the concessions truck were among the few things to warm up the contenders and the fans at the inaugural regional meet, which featured both the Northeast and then New York qualifying races.

The boys’ NE race was astonishingly close, but in the end the two favorites came out on top. Brookline TC (Brookline MA) used its upfront power to win by slimmest of margins (1 point) over the slight favorites from Danbury TC (Danbury CT), 86-87. Both teams have dominated their Northeast competition this fall so much that it would be a shame not to see them go to Nationals. Danbury’s depth was just not enough to overcome Brookline’s top-heavy squad, including Bob Gibson and David Wilson, who took 1-3 individually, with Germantown’s Max Kaulbach separating them.

New Jersey champions Don Bosco took third with 96 points, and they are hoping for a wild card qualifier based on their Manhattan Invitational triumph over New York nationals qualifier Warwick Valley. Pennsylvania teams took the next two spots in the amazingly deep field, with DuHast (North Penn) finishing fourth with 106 and Germantown (Germantown Friends) fifth with 165.

On the ladies’ side, it was a wicked surprise as the Wicked TC Team from Massachusetts (made up of girls from Lincoln-Sudbury HS) pulled a stunning upset, winning the team title with 69 points. They edged out the Hunterdon Hawks (girls attending Voorhees HS in NJ) by a mere 4 points. Wicked put five girls in the top 23 in the meet, led by Andrea Keklak’s 4th place finish. The state champions of Massachusetts and New Jersey will go to nationals while the favorites from Hanover NH (3rd with 83 points) as well as the Andover MA team (4th with 106 points) will have to await Sunday’s wild-card decision.

On the individual front, heavy favorite Georgia Griffin from Hanover led wire to wire, winning comfortably in 18:53. The New Jersey champion Melanie Thompson from Hunterdon Hawks was second throughout the race to claim silver in 19:06.


Individual winners Robert Gibson and Georgia Griffin. Photos by John Nepolitan


Winners Table click on event for results, stories and photos

EventWinners
Boys Championship 1. Brookline MA 86, 2. Danbury CT 87. Robert Gibson (Brookline) 16:00.9
Girls Championship
1. Wicked TC (Lincoln Sudbury MA) 69, 2. Hunterdon NJ (Voorhees) 73. Georgia Griffin (Hanover NH) 18:53
Boys Small/JV/Frosh
JVs - The Purple Wave 17 pts., Matt Laroe 17:31
Freshmen - Bishop Hendricken 15 pts., Ryan Walsh 18:31
Small School - Danbury 15 pts., Levi Wallace 17:25
Girls Small/JV/Frosh Small Schools - Hilltop Harriers 20 pts.
Small School/JV/Freshmen - Paige Peltan 20:59

This is the first Northeast regional championship meet for Nike Team Nationals. In previous years, regional representatives were selected by a committee. This year the decisions will be settled on the course. The top two teams here (both boys and girls) will qualify for the 4th national championship race at Portland Meadows race track, Portland OR, on December 1.

Preview - NE regional editor Matt Soja says four teams stand out -- Danbury and Brookline boys and Hanover and Hunterdon Hawks (Voorhees) girls.



Northeast region has dominated the first three years of NTN with 10 top 4 finishes, including 5 of the 6 champions. Four of the five champions were from New York, which splits off into its own region this year. NE Prior Years

2006 Girls Champions - Fayetteville-Manlius NY coach Bill Aris and his girls after their smashing victory, which climaxed a season-ending flourish of three straight wins -- the New York public schools state championship and the New York Federation championship prior to NTN. Aris brought his US#1 boys team to NTN the last 2 years without winning, but grabbed the title this year with a girls team that was out of the running for NTN until winning the New York championships.

2006 Boys Champions - Bridgetown PA's 2-3 runners slog through the mud near the finish line. They helped the Northeast #1 team pull away in the last 1000 meters for a decisive win.

photos by John Dye


Schedule

The New York regional championship races are being held the same day at Bowdoin State Park. All non-regional championship races are combined with Northeast and New York runners.

10:00 Boys- small school, JV, Frosh ( combined- sorted by computer )
10:45 Girls- small school, JV, Frosh ( combined- sorted by computer )
11:30 Boys NE Regional Championship
12:10 Girls NE Regional Championship
1:00 Boys NY Regional Championship
1:40 Girls NY Regional Championship
2:30 Awards- ALL



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