THETFORD, Vt. – Plenty of hardware will be heading home to Providence, R.I., as the LaSalle Academy boys’ and girls’ cross country teams both won team titles at the New England Championships Saturday at Thetford Academy.
The LaSalle boys were led by a first-place finish from D.J. Principe, who paced the field in a time of 15:48.40, nearly 21 seconds faster than runner-up Gabriel Altopp of Ridgefield, Conn.
LaSalle scored 76 points to beat out second-place Pinkerton Academy of New Hampshire, which totaled 96 points. In addition to Principe’s victory, LaSalle got a fifth-place finish from Jack Salisbury. Nick Sevilla was Pinkerton’s top runner, after coming home fourth.
Hampden Academy’s Paul Casavant was the top Maine finisher, in 20th with a time of 16:48.0. Mt. Blue’s Tucker Barber finished 127th and was maine’s 15th-best finisher in 17:54.7. Lisbon’s Nick Harriman finished in 174th place (18:24.5). Lewiston’s Osman Doorow, who hoped to keep pace with Principe and contend for the individual title, failed to finish the race after falling early and withdrawing with an injury.
Harriman said in the week leading up to the race that he wanted to keep pace with Scarborough’s Colin Tardiff and Freeport’s Chandler Vincent. He accomplished half of that feat, as Tardiff crossed the line in 99th and Vincent was 250th.
Hannah Debalsi of Staples High School in Westport, Conn., won her third straight individual title on the girls’ side, finishing in a time of 18:20.9. Eleanor Lawler of South Kingstown, R.I., was the runner-up in a time of 18:32.7.
Eliza Rego was the LaSalle girls’ top finisher in fourth. The Rams scored 60 points to easily beat runner-up Coe-Brown Northwood Academy of New Hampshire.
Orono’s Tia Tardy was the top Maine girl, finishing 12th with a time of 19:31.2. Tardy’s Red Riot team was the top Maine girls’ team, taking 12th place overall. Scarborough was the top boys’ team from Maine, finishing 21st out of 30 teams.
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