Big Red rolls over rivals in E/A
Exeter brings home a trio of victories at Andover, while Big Red cross country continues dominating run at Interschols.
Championship hardware and the color red swarming Andover; that is how the most anticipated sports weekend on the fall calendar unfolded Saturday.
Exeter cross country continued its run of dominance at the New England Interscholastic Championships, while another chapter in the historic rivalry between Exeter and Andover concluded with a trio of victories for Big Red.
The Exeter boys varsity cross country teams continued its unprecedented run by capturing a third consecutive Division I title — and sixth in the last 10 years — at Interschols at St. Paul’s. Exeter had the first four runners cross the line in a dominating performance. Byron Grevious ‘24 led the way with his second straight individual title with a course-record time of 15 minutes, 35 seconds. Max Lacombe ‘24 (16:30), Oliver Brandes ‘23 (16:33), and Mateo Bango ‘23 (16:36) followed for Big Red.
The boys JV cross country team extended its own dominant streak and captured its seventh straight JV championship. Owen Dudley ’23 (17:55) and Michael Zhu ’24 (17:50) placed second and third, respectively, while Big Red had six others finish inside the top 10.
The girls varsity cross country team also enjoyed a great day of success and placed second overall. Tenley Nelson ’24 claimed third place overall with a time of 19:36. Daria Ivanova ‘24 (20:02) placed sixth, while Annika Finelli ’24 (21:21) also earned All-New England status with a 16th place finish.
The girls JV program put together a top performance and earned its second straight JV championship. Hawley Dick ‘25 earned individual champion honors with a time of 22:14 while Emerson Seymour ‘26 (22:25), Tiffany Sun ’26 (22:28) and Leta Griffith ’24 (22:31) joined her in the top five.
In other Interschol action, boys varsity water polo earned a 14-11 victory over Williston in the opening round before falling to Greenwich Country Day, 13-9. Exeter will compete in the third-place match on Sunday morning.
Back in Andover, Big Red girls volleyball capped a perfect 14-0 regular season with a 3-1 (25-9, 25-14, 23-25, 25-22) victory over the Blue. Exeter jumped out to a quick 2-0 match lead before Andover earned a hard-fought third set. Exeter staved off a late Andover push in the fourth to cap the win with a 25-22 fourth-set victory. Sofia Morais ’23 and Coco Barton ’23 were solid for Big Red, who will await their postseason opponent for a Wednesday matchup.
On the pitch, it was the Blue who capitalized on their scoring chances by potting one in the first half and three in the second to take a 4-0 girls varsity soccer win. Bridgette Martin ’23 made several saves in goal for Big Red; Esme Shields ’24 was strong in the middle of the field.
Andover struck first in field hockey with a goal in the opening five minutes. Exeter would even the score at 1-1 when Eloise Goedkoop ’23 found the back of the net. Andover would take a 2-1 edge into halftime after capitalizing on a corner before adding a pair in the second half to earn a 4-1 win.
Big Red boys soccer scored the lone goal of the game in the first half when Thaniel Illuzzi ’23 headed in a beautiful cross from Jaylen Bennett ’25 to earn a 1-0 victory. Trevor Piltch ’23 was outstanding in goal, making several key stops including a diving stop with just three minutes to play.
Football capped E/A weekend in emphatic fashion, earning its second straight victory over the Blue by a score of 42-7 in the 138th meeting between the foes.
Andover held a 7-6 lead and was driving in the final minute of the first half before Tommy Dunn ’23 picked off a pass and ran it back to the 20 yard line. Big Red would take advantage of the field position and reclaim a lead they would never give back when Tristan Aboud ’23 scored on a quarterback keeper to give Exeter a 14-6 lead at the break.
The second half was all Exeter, as it scored 28 unanswered points. Running back Xaviah Bascon ’23 scored four touchdowns for Big Red, while Aboud ran for one and threw another to Dylan Almeyda ’23.
The victory capped a 7-1 season for Big Red, who closed the deficit in the all-time series against Andover to 55-73-10.
