While Hamilton-Wenham showed once again why it is the preeminent cross country program on the North Shore, Pentucket's star runners faired quite well for themselves at the unfamiliar General course. In the boys action, the Sachems (4-6) lost 19-44, and in the girls race the Sachems (8-2) lost 24-33.

"I was very pleased with how we ran their course especially considering none of us had seen the course before," said third-year Pentucket coach Darrell Cox. "The one year we were supposed to run here, the race got rained out. I was pleased to see the girls run so close to an undefeated team, and Eric (McDonald) had another fine run."

Alanna Poretta (17:04) may have been the story of the day for both sides, pulling off a mild upset over last year's second place-runner in the CAL, Emily Lanois, by 16 seconds. In the process Poretta broke the 11-year-old course record by 24 seconds.

"Emily was a good pace setter for me today, and I felt really good throughout the race," Poretta said. "I thought my kick would be better from watching her run against some of my teammates last year in the 800. So I just wanted to stick with her until that last 800 meters. I was able to do that and it paid off for me."

April O'Brien, a part of the top three on the girls side that really distanced themselves from the pack, also had a strong race finishing at 18:04. Amy Babeu (20:13) had the next-fastest time for the Sachems in eighth place followed by Lauren Iola (20:37) in 10th place.

In the boys race, last year's first and third All-State finishers, Gabe Pacione of Hamilton-Wenham and Pentucket's Eric McDonald, matched up for a primetime showdown. The duo did not disappoint either as Pacione (14:03) won by 20 seconds, but each broke the old course record of 15:18 by nearly a minute.

McDonald, in fact, may have been able to run a faster time than the already impressive 14:23 had he not had a shoe malfunction.

"My shoe came untied early in the race and when we got to the hill at the 2-mile mark it popped off a bit," McDonald said. "It didn't really bother me too much though, I was quite happy with how I ran and how well I felt throughout the race.

"Gabe and myself had another nice duel, he started out faster than I thought taking an early lead for the first mile. Then I had the lead for most of the second mile," McDonald said of the race. "His kick was just a little better after the hill, but I think this will help both of us get ready for CALs and states later on."

Other runners who did well for the Sachems were Jason Cox (17:25) in ninth and Adam Roberts (17:41) in 10th.

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