By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

Thanksgiving week. The time when families and friends get together and reconnect with each other. Some look forward to “Friendsgiving” on Wednesday night and others look forward to the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning and a HUGE dinner on Thursday. But for high school runners, the holiday extends to Saturday when cross country runners gather together for either the Nike Cross Regionals at Bowdoin Park in New York or the Footlocker Regional Championships now at Franklin Park in Boston. 

Nike Cross Regionals Northeast

While individuals can qualify for National Cross Nationals, teams are the focus and many of Connecticut’s best teams will head to Bowdoin Park and the best individuals not on teams are heading to Franklin Park. 

MEET INFO

Watch Live Webcast on RunnerSpace

History of Connecticut Harriers at Nike Cross Nationals

Race Schedule:

NXR Top Boys Teams

With Massachusetts not competing in the New England cross country championship, the best team in the region will have to be decided on Saturday when New England champion Ridgefield goes against the Bay State champion Brookline. Christian Brothers Academy of New Jersey has been the top ranked team all season, breaking course records for fastest times along the way. They simply dominated their state’s Meet of Champions (equivalent to the State Open), scoring 34 points to NE region #2 ranked Westfield’s 70 points. 

Top two finishers automatically qualify for Nike Cross Nationals in Portland on December 2nd. But Ridgefield and Brookline are ranked 3rd and 4th and if they don't grab a top two spot then they have a shot at a wild card position to be determined by a committee. The Northeast has an excellent shot at at least one Wild Card because there were five teams ranked in the top 22 in the nation according to Dyestat’s latest national poll on November 9th. 

NXR Top Girls Teams

Union Catholic overwhelmed the competition in the NJ Meet of Champions, defeating Middletown South by a score of 31 to 145. They will have to face New England champions Champlain Valley Union of Vermont, the number two ranked team in the region. Pennsylvania 3A champion North Allegheny should be challenged by MA Meet Of Champions winner Oliver Ames and runner up Arlington who is ranked 4th in the region. Oyster River, NH kept it close with Champlain Valley Union at the New England championship and is ranked 5th in the region. The Connecticut banner will be carried by State Open champions Greenwich who had an off day at New Englands when top runner Esme Daplyn got sick right before the meet and was not able to finish. While the Cardinals finished 8th at New Englands, if Daplyn finished in the top 20, it could have moved them into a podium spot. Finishing within the top six to ten spots at Regionals is a real possibility. 

Top Boys CT teams entered in the NXN- NE Championships race include:

Ridgefield - CT State Open and New England champions

Danbury XC Club - CT State Open and New England runner up

Xavier as South Farms TC - 3rd place at the State Open and New England championships

East Lyme as Black Point RC - 5th place at the State Open and 6th place at New Englands

All State Boys Individuals from CT:

Nic Boyle, North Haven - 18th place at the State Open, 25th at New Englands

Luke Cushing, Amity - 7th place at the State Open

Other Top CT Girls Teams:

Mercy as South Farms - 8th place at the State Open

All State Girls Individuals from CT:

Juliette Forstrom, Sacred Heart Academy- 11th place at the State Open, 

Foot Locker Northeast Regional

The top ten finishers in each of the regional championship races qualify for the Foot Locker Cross Country National Finals in San Diego, CA on December 9, 2023. Over the past 40+ years the Northeast Regional meet has been held at the more centrally located Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. But a significant change occurred this year when the meet was changed to the equally historic course at Franklin Park in Boston. Besides dozens of college and high school meets held each year, Franklin Park was also the site of the 1992 World Cross Country Championships. 

The 5k course for the Northeast Regional is very fast and only goes up “Bear Cage Hill” once. The rest of the course is relatively flat (by CT standards) and is mostly on hard packed dirt trails. It is a PR type course where several entrants are already experienced after racing at the 62nd Catholic Memorial Invitational in October. 

In addition to chasing a top 10 finish for a ticket to the Championship meet, the top five finishers from each state will also compete for awards of the best state team of the twelve competing in the Northeast region. 

MEET SITE

LIVE RESULTS LINK

COURSE MAP

COURSE PREVIEW

All-Time List of Connecticut Finalists at Kinney-Foot Locker-Eastbay XC Championships

Race Schedule:

Marty Lewis Championship Race - 11:15am

With CT State Open and New England champion Steven Hergenrother opting to compete with his team at NXR-NE in NY, a spot surely opens that could be claimed by a Connecticut runner. The Nutmeg entrants will need to contend with defending champion Drew Griffith (Butler PA) and national finalists Paul Bergeron (Westford MA), Ryan Pajak (Pittsburgh PA), Colin Whitaker (Lancaster PA) and Tamrat Gavenas (Andover MA).

Top CT boys entered in the meet include:

Isaac Mahler of Hall - New England runner up and 3rd place at New Englands 

Soheib Dissa of Newtown - State Open runner-up and 8th place at New Englands 

Griffin Mandirola of Suffield - 4th place at the Open and New England 3rd place finisher 

Jack Mattingly of E.O. Smith - 6th place at the Open and 5th place at New Englands 

Christian Menounos of Woodstock Academy - 14th place at the Open

Alex Fisher of Loomis Chaffe has much improved since last year and finished within 13-seconds of NBNO 5k champion Byron Grevious placing 3rd in the NEPSTA Division 1 Cross-Country Championships. 

Girls Championship Race - 12:00pm

Besides New England champion Ruth White of Maine who finished 4th last year to qualify for Nationals, CT sends many of their best female runners who will need to contend with defending champion Ellie Shea of Belmont MA. Finalists returning from last year also include Zariel Macchia (Shirley, NY) and Emma Zawatski (Manalapan NJ). 

Top CT girls entrants include:

Katie Bohlke of Newington leads the way looking to punch her ticket west after a successful season that included a State Open title and a fifth place at New Englands.

Chase Gilbert of Old Lyme was injured before the State Open and didn’t compete. If she is healthy, she should finish high with an outside chance to qualify. 

Brooke Strauss of Glastonbury was the State Open runner-up and third at New Englands. 

Tess Sherry of Conard, third at the State Open and fourth at New Englands.

Liv Sherry of Conard fourth at the State Open and 9th at New Englands

Charlotte Moore of New Canaan 9th at the Open and 13th at New Englands 

As the highest finisher last year in 15th, Trumbull’s Kathryn Marchand returns for another try after her 20th place at the State Open this year

Just finishing her soccer season is Branford’s Lucy Martin. She ran a 3:56 1600m to place 3rd in the State Open last spring, so she could be a surprise top finisher if she is in racing shape.