Captain Ethan McIntosh ’15 raced across the field hockey field at Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) to finish the NMH Invitational 5K course in 17:25, earning him a fourth-place finish in the penta-meet.
McIntosh’s top finish allowed Andover Boys Cross Country to finish in second place with 50 points, beating out Loomis Chaffee, NMH, Cushing and Kimball Union Academy. Exeter finished first with 45 points.
“We knew Exeter would be really strong because they always are well trained and they have won the last couple of championships. I think our coach was overall pleased with our performance. We were only a few places away from winning the whole thing,” said Paul McGovern ’15, who finished second for Andover and seventh overall in 17:59.
Right alongside McGovern was Ralph Skinner ’16, who finished eighth overall and third for Andover in 18:00.
Tom Burnett ’15 finished almost a minute later in 18:56 and Arthur Doran ’15 completed the course in 19:30, as Andover’s fourth and fifth, respectively. Doran’s time was his fastest regular season 5K time since suffering a spinal fracture 14 months ago.
John Gorton ’15 and Keton Kakkar ’15 rounded out Andover’s Top Seven in 19:55 and 21:06, respectively.
NMH had the first overall runner, who finished with a time of 16:48, the only one to race under 17 minutes. The team came in fourth overall at 66 points, trailing Loomis, which ended the day with 58 points.
Times were a little slower than expected for the race because of the intense heat and the difficulty of NMH’s course, known for its rolling hills and steep upclimb.
While Andover’s Top Seven attempted to run the race as a pack, the difficulty of the course and the conditions forced the runners to separate. As a result, there was more than a two-minute spread between Andover’s first and fifth finishers.
“I’m sure our coach will be pushing us to do all the workouts together so that we can get used to running the races together as well,” said McGovern.
With Andover only five points behind Exeter in its first race of the season, the team showed it has the potential to defeat Exeter at Andover-Exeter for the first time in four years.
Andover will race at Choate on Sunday.
