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Brian Cosgrove placed third overall for Triton (5-3) at Georgetown's course. Zack Peabody (18:24) placed eighth. Andrew Buckless finished ninth (18:26). Kenny Mitchell placed 11th (18:47). T.J. Howard placed 12th (18:55).

Jason Cox (18:02) led most of the race for Pentucket (2-6) but finished sixth at Pipestave Course. Matt Pearsall placed 11th (18:52). Cam Doe (19:10) placed 14th. Hunter Sawyer placed 18th (19:44).

Greg Englehart finished second (15:13) at Herald State Park Estate Park for the Clippers (5-2). Brian Morse (15:20) finished third. Sean Hickman (16:07) placed 10th.

Whittier's Bryan Stanley ran a 17:22 over 3.1 miles, believed to be the record at the Greater Lowell course, as the Wildcats downed Essex Aggie 21-38 and fell to the Gryphons 32-25. Teammate Ian Kelley was second overall in 18:49.

Lawrence ends drought The Lawrence boys cross country team won its first Merrimack Valley Conference meet in eight years, 22-34 over Tewksbury, as part of a tri-meet that included Methuen. Addely Gonzalez finished a strong second overall for the Lancers to lead the way, running 16:04 for three miles, and Luis Cruz was sixth. Miguel Taveras came in 10th. "The kids loved it, they couldn't believe it," said Lawrence coach Rick Parthum, who singled out senior Melvin Rivera for a fine effort. "They ran a perfect race."

Hitting the century markMethuen boys cross country coach Bill James won the 100th and 101st meets in his 14-year career with convincing wins over Lawrence (20-40) and Tewksbury (22-34). James is an impressive 101-29 for his career.

Breaking the iceThe North Reading boys cross country team won its first meet in two years, edging host Amesbury 27-30 as part of a quad-meet. Dan Kaepplinger was first in 15:45 for 2.9 miles, Liam Cregan was seventh and improving sophomore Mark Rollfs was 11th.

Reggie pack prevailsSpurred perhaps by newcomer Reilyn Montero in seventh, Greater Lawrence had four runners from sixth through ninth within four seconds to hold off Greater Lowell 28-27, Erik Polanco finished second for the Reggies.

Methuen defeated surprising Andover by an easier than expected 22-39 and part of the reason was senior Justin Reddy.

While junior brother Jared Reddy cruised to first in 15:22 over 2.87 miles, Justin finished — following Andrew Stamatopulos in third — as the Rangers' No. 3 man, coming in fifth in 15:53.

North Andover junior Darryl Varney may not be the Knights' No. 1 runner, but he's apparently not content with trailing standout Alex Kramer by a lot. In yesterday's impressive 21-38 win over Hamilton-Wenham, Varney was third overall in 16:48 for 2.8 miles, just one second behind Kramer. Hamilton's Luke Vance leaned past Varney for second in a photo finish. "(Darryl) Varney has definitely improved a lot," said North Andover coach Rick Dellechiaie, whose team improved to 5-0.

Who says you only need five runners to win a cross country meet? Georgetown won a 29-29 tiebreaker with Wilmington yesterday when Zach Hamilton, as the Royals' No. 6 man, beat Wilmington's sixth man by 15 seconds. Luke Seaberg paced a loose Georgetown pack by finishing third.

North Reading senior Dan Kaepplinger took top honors, running 16:18 for 2.85 miles, but the Hornets fell to both Hamilton-Wenham (20-40) and Triton (25-34). Liam Cregan finished eighth for the Hornets (0-3).

North Andover had no problem blanking both Georgetown and Amesbury by 15-50 scores. Rob Hennessey (15:54), Daryl Varney and Alex Kramer finished together in the first three spots on the 2.85-mile Harold Parker course and Max O’Brien (16:02) and Rudi Starrett (16:18) weren’t far behind.

Pentucket fell to Masconomet 15-50, but the Sachems (1-3) did beat Wilmington 25-34. Jason Cox led the Sachems, coming in 11th, followed by Matt Pearsall in 18th.

Methuen beat Dracut 17-45. The Rangers took the top three spots with Jared Reddy (16:13), Andrew Stamatopulos (16:31) and Steve Fitzsimmons (16:32).