THETFORD, Vermont – Exeter High School junior Lexi Paterna, and another New Hampshire runner were involved in a photo-finish at Saturday’s New England Cross Country Championship at Thetford Academy.
Hopkinton junior Maddy Lane won in a time of 18 minutes, 29.29 seconds, edging out Paterna who placed second in 18:29.4.
Exeter placed 12th in the 36-team field with 340 points. Champlain Valley (Vermont) won with a team score of 89. Oyster River was sixth with 237 points.
Exeter junior Bri Paterna placed 19th overall with a time of 19:49, while teammates Molly Kells (131st, 21:41), Izzie Bremer (160th, 21:41) and Ashleigh MacEachern (169th, 22:20) all competed.
Oyster River sophomore Olivia Kavanagh was 22nd (19:48.31), senior Neely Roy was 35th (20:20.94) and junior Madelyn Cook was 40th (20:26.15).
In the boys race, Oyster River placed 19th out of 30 teams with 448 points. Exeter’s Logan Poteet placed 73rd in the 253-runner field in a time of 17:41, while Oyster River senior Levi Clapp was 83rd (17:49.43) and senior Garrett Sellers was 91st (17:53.57).
