Captain Sean Hamilton ’06 led the Varsity Boys Cross-Country team to a second consecutive victory at the Canterbury Invitational race last Saturday. Seven Andover runners creamed the competition in this highly competitive race. Every athlete ran the hilly course in personal record time. Andover has won the Canterbury Invitational five out of the last six years. The grassy course starts off with a large downhill section and finishes off with a long uphill section. Going into the race, Andover anticipated tough competition. Loomis Chaffee, Cushing, and Blair were all itching to pry the win out of Andover’s grasp, along with six other competitive prep schools. Andover targeted finishing five runners in the top fifteen, each of these five running a sub-18 minute time. After a good start, Andover looked to be in great shape after the first mile of the challenging course. Captain Hamilton led the race for Andover, pulling along Ben Bramhall ’07 and Kentaro Watari ’07. At the first mile mark, Andover was in excellent position with all seven runners ahead of every other team’s fifth runner. The long, hilly second mile saw Andover in a steady rhythm, trying to keep up the pace to secure the win. The team came through with fantastic results, achieving the goals set going into the race. Andover’s first three runners raced strong and steady into the finish, led by Captain Hamilton. Captain Hamilton finished first for Andover and fifth overall in a record time of 16:52. Trailing him was Bramhall at a personal record of 17:00. Watari came in soon after at a personal best of 17:04 min. Andover’s second main pack consisted of Addison Godine ’07 in 13th place with a record time of 17:42. Dave Wilson ’09 followed Godine in 14th place with a time of 17.49. Andover succeeded its target of planting five of the seven runners in the top fifteen Close behind, Sean Becket ’08 ran a great 23rd place finish at 18:18. Following Becket was Dave Heighington ’06 who ran a personal record of 18:24. The final score saw Andover blowing away the other teams with 45 points. Cushing trailed at a substantial distance of 95 points. Loomis Chaffee tied with Blair at 103 points, and Deerfield rounded out the top five at 114. Two of Andover’s biggest rivals, Exeter and St. Paul’s, did not compete at Canterbury. This Saturday, Andover looks forward to its Invitational race. Several New England prep schools will arrive looking to race athletes of all skill levels on the Andover course. This will be Andover’s first official home race, and the team looks forward to proving its power on the home course.
