Middle school crosscountry teams take big wins

The Overlook boys' and girls' cross-country teams ran in the highly competitive two-mile Keene invitational in Keene, N.H. on Oct. 14.

The boys' cross-country ran as well as any other Overlook team in 12 years and became only the second team from the middle school to ever take first place in this event. Over 100 boys from eight schools entered and Overlook placed fourth in the top 10.

Ethan Beauregard ran a great race placing third, Christian Robichaud ran the race of his career placing seventh and so did eighth place recipient Eric Ouellette. Speedy sixth grader Derrick Andrews rounded out the top 10 with his finish. Both Tobey Belton and Tobey Young ran strong races to finish in the top 20 and Robin Murray sealed the win with a solid placing in 23.

Also running well for the Eagles were Trevor Gamel, Troy Richardson, Ben Weiderman, Dan Parish and Josh Craig. Winning individual awards for the boys were Beauregard, Ouellette, Young for being in the top of all eighth graders. Robichaud took home the first place ribbon for being the first seventh-grade finisher overall. Andrews for being the second sixth grader and Richardson won for being the fifth sixth-grade finisher.

The rapidly improving girls' team also ran an outstanding race and finished third, beaten only by the two crosscountry powerhouses - Keene and Amherst, Mass.

Jennifer Burke became only the second Overlook girl to finish in the top 10 and she also won the award for being the second seventh-grade finisher overall. Also running in the top 20 and winning awards for placing in the top ten of all tenth graders were Krysta Zbikowski and Colleen Mulligan. Also running excellent races for the Lady Eagles were Kerry Kupcinskas, Sadie Zbikowski and Lauren Ouellette.

This was the best-combined performance in this event by Overlook boys' and girls' teams.

The boys and girls' Overlook Cross-Country teams also ran a tri-meet Lancaster and Gardner Middle School teams at the Overlook course on Oct. 16.

The boys' team beat both Lancaster and Gardner by the same score: 15 to 49 as Overlook took the first seven places. The boy's record is 9-1.

Beaugard remained undefeated with an outstanding first place time of 10 minutes and 25 seconds. Also running excellent times in the top 10 in order were Tobey Belton, Eric Oullette, Tim Steussy, Christian Robichaun, Robin Murray and Eric Fagnant,

Running their best Overlook course times also were Steve Streeks, Dave Leblanc, Troy Richardson, Ben Weirdman, Craig, Taylor Breau, Steve Hilton, Zach Fargues, Alan Jackson, James Ham, Joey Poirier, Ben Murphy, Jarrod Beauvais, Kevin Murphy, and Pat O' Connell.

The girls' team had their third win in a row as they defeated both Lancaster and Gardner Middle School teams with the scores of 25 to 32 and 15 to 49, respectively. Krysta Zbikowski ran her fastest time ever to finish third overall. Right behind her was Jennifer Burke. Colleen Mulligan was right behind her in her personal best time. Also running their personal best and finishing in the top 10 in order were Mary Regan, Lauren Oullette, Kerry Kupsinkos and Sadie Zbikowski. Also running their best time were Alison Durkin and Meghan Horgan.

- Submitted to The Journal