Sanca, Coogan top USATF-NE 10 Mile Championship field

Ruben Sanca (Whirlaway RT) and Rachel Coogan (B.A.A.) led a field of over 1000 in the AutoFair 10 Miler, the USATF-NE 10 Mile Championship, on Saturday in Auburn NH.  Expertly hosted by Millennium Running, warm but not hot temperatures and lower humidity than usual made for a comfortable August racing day.
 
Sanca earned his first NH 10 Miler title by holding off a handful of hard finishing challengers with his 51:12 clocking.  The top 5 men finished within 8 seconds after the hilly tour around Massabesic Lake.
Coogan led almost from the gun and broke the tape at 59:54, 46 seconds ahead of 2022 Grand Prix Series leader Courtney Yaeger (Tracksmith Boston Hares). 
Three age division winners have now won all five 2022 championship races to date - Tina Dowling, Whirlaway, W55, Paul McGovern, Whirlaway, M60, and John Hackney, Green Mt.AA, M75.

The men's team results were as close as the individual competition. Hartbeat New England totaled 4:25:44.6, ahead of the Boston Athletic Association's 4:25:58.8.  The average time for each club's 5 scorer was just 2.8 seconds different over 10 miles; 15 clubs scored.  Women's teams found Tracksmith with a comfortable margin ahead of whirlaway among 13 scoring clubs. 

Over 400 USATF-NE members competed in the event, which ended with a promising footnote - the 1087 finishers was higher than the total of the 2019 pre-Covid event, one of the first races around to achieve this benchmark.

Overall preliminary results - millenniumrunning.com/results-autofair-nh-10-miler-2022/43340#/race/oZe2rP/10m/
Watch for final USATF-NE results and Grand Prix standing updates early in the week.