Peabody Cross Country Takes Two

The undefeated Peabody boys came to Swampscott Tuesday to run against the undefeated Big Blue.

And it was a race.

The Tanners came away with the 24 - 31 victory but it was a dual to the finish.

Peabody's Nick Christensen set a course record over the 2.65-mile course, finishing in 13:37.

Tanners came in third, fifth, seventh and ninth. A Tanner also tied for eighth place.

Coach Joe Rocha thought his boys could have run better.

They were mentally prepared for the challenge but made some mistakes on the course, he said.

"The boys didn't run as well as I expected," he said. "We didn't run as a team."

Expectations are high for this group. They have not lost a league meet in five years.

Rocha also said that Swampscott came to race.

"Give Swampscott some credit," he said."They ran hard. They came to compete."

The Peabdy girls scored a 17-40 victory.

Catarina Rocha, who finished second in last year's state meet, won the race.

Rocha said he has a young team. Three of the five top runners have not run cross country before.

They ran very well, he said.