RallyNorth.net

MANCHESTER — A week ago, Pinkerton coach Mike Clark stated his goal for Saturday;s Division 1 meet at Derryfield Park.

"With the ypimng team that I have, I'd be ecstatic if we could finish second in that field," said Clark. "Nobody is going to beat Concord."

The Pinkerton boys cross country team has experienced growing pains this fall as it's attempted to do a quick rebuild, but it grew up quickly Saturday at the Catholic Memorial Invitational.

Joe Gagnon took first overall in 16.00, his career-best on Pinkerton's 3.0 mile course, and the Astros took the top seven placed on the way to scoring 15 points to defeat Alvirne (53) and Spaulding (78).

Youth was on display for both Pinkerton and Londonderry Saturday at the Manchester Invitational.

With a lineup of underclassmen led by Joe Gagnon, Pinkerton finished 11th while Londonderry came in 16th. But the Lancers showed great promise by finishing 1-2-6 to win the freshman race.

Led by super freshmen William Heenan and Ryan Young, who finished11th and 12th respectively, Londonderry finished a strong third at the Nashua Invitational.

The Long Red Line was in midseason form, winning the Paul Letarte Invitational at Mt. Washington for the 11th time in the last 12 years. Pinkerton's top performers in the 3.34- mile course wereL 3. Joe Gagnon 19:05, 10. Ethan Desmarais 19:54, 15. Josh Noe 20.26.

It was a great season opener for Joe Gagnon, who sped to first in 16:46 to help Pinkerton take its tri-meet over Londonderry and Exeter. The Astros will run at the Mount Washington Invitational Saturday at Great Glenn Trails.