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North Andover senior Alex Sullivan ran the fastest time ever recorded by a Knight on the home cross country course at Harold Parker State Park, turning in a 14:34 on the 2.85-mile course in a 15-48 win over Manchester Essex. Darryl Varney held the old record.

The Northern Essex Community College men's basketball team won its first game of the season, 77-68 over Lakes Region.

Matt Richardson led the way for the Knights (1-3) with 19 points and seven rebounds while Jorge Escoto-Garcia had 15 points and 15 rebounds in limited action and Chris Baxter played a fine all-around game with 10 points, 8 assists and 3 steals.

North Reading's boys and girls cross country teams both defeated Manchester to open the season. Matt Rollfs led the boys to a 19-40 romp by finishing first in 15:06 for 2.7 miles at Harold Parker while Liam Cregan came in second 10 seconds later. The girls also rolled, 21-39.

Opening day translated into a sparkler for the North Andover boys and girls cross country teams,which swept Amesbury and Georgetown.
Ally Brillaud, a senior, picked up her first career victory in the girls meet.
For the boys, both winner Max O'Brien and runner-up Darryll Varney snapped the old Georgetown course mark in a sweep.

The Hornets (5-5) lost a tri-meet to Newburyport (21-32) and Hamilton-Wenham (18-42). Manchester Essex had strong showings from Eric Kimball (6th, 14:58), Ben Girard (9th, 15:16), Leo Daley (13th, 15:31), Spencer Lange (17th, 15:55) and Nate Jermaine (18, 15:59).  

OVERVIEW: Methuen, which had captured five straight MVC meet championships prior to last year, should be back on top this fall after a brief reloading process. Defending champion Chelmsford will be strong again but, after holding off the young Rangers by a mere point in their dual meet last year, they'll miss graduated No. 1 man Chris Brown.

Haverhill needs to develop depth but, with Ethan Penney in front, the Hillies could be dangerous. Andover and Central Catholic should be improved.