Athlete of the Month: Hanover's Perreard adjusted, triumphed

Dec. 2—WHEN Lea Perreard ran a cross-country race this fall, she was almost always the first runner across the finish line.

Perreard, a sophomore at Hanover High School, went unbeaten through October, then took seventh at the New England Cross Country Championships on Nov. 11.

The Hanover resident's stellar season included winning the NHIAA Division II individual title and both the Alvirne Battle of the Border meet and Mills Riverside Invitational (Jericho, Vermont) in October.

Perreard's first-place finishes at each of those meets earned her the October New Hampshire Union Leader Apple Therapy Services/Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center/Express MED Athlete of the Month award from the Union Leader Board of Judges.

"Last year, I think, she was trying to figure out who she was as a runner and just sort of tucked in behind some of those faster individuals," Hanover cross-country coach Eric Picconi said. "This year, she made herself the faster individual and created that cushion."

Picconi said Perreard adjusted her race strategy this season. She started every race fast to build a healthy lead on the rest of the field and used that margin to prevent anyone from passing her later.

With Perreard's new approach in mind, Picconi supplied her in-race real-time data that spelled out the extent of her lead.

"I think going out fast in the first mile really helps me to have some cushion," Perreard said. "Sometimes I do lose some of that, but I think that's kind of what I am trying to get it for is if something goes wrong later in the race where I get a little too tired, I have a little bit of cushion to do that. At the start of the race, too, normally there's a lot of cheering, which gives me a lot of adrenaline, and that helps me go out hard."

Perreard, 15, opened October by winning the Alvirne Battle of the Border meet on the seventh with one of her fastest times of the season (18 minutes, 19.4 seconds). She returned to the course on Nov. 4, when she won the NHIAA Meet of Champions girls race with her personal-best time of 17:50.91.

Perreard, known for wearing sunglasses whenever she competes, also set her personal-best time as a freshman (18:59) at Alvirne last year.

The course was muddy and it rained during the Battle of the Border race. but the meet taught her where to push and where to hold back, she said, in anticipation of the Meet of Champions.

"Definitely the first mile, I pushed at Alvirne and I kind of did the same thing at Meet of Champs, which, I think, worked pretty well because then I had a little bit of cushion," Perreard said.

Perreard then won the Mills Riverside Invitational on Oct. 20 with her time of 18:29.45.

At the NHIAA Division II Championships on Oct. 28, Picconi and his fellow coaches challenged Perreard to run the fastest time regardless of division that day.

She did.

Perreard won her first D-II individual title in 18:48.8 — the best finish by any female competitor across the three division championships held that warm day at Derryfield Park in Manchester. Division I champion Kelseigh O'Neil, a senior at Bedford High, ran the next-fastest time (18:56.99).

"We said it sort of matter-of-fact and that's what stuck with her," Picconi said. "She knew we believed in her, she knew her teammates believed in her and then, at that point, she believed in herself."

Perreard said she loves running the hilly Derryfield Park course. Fueled by the crowd at the start of the race, she took the lead in the first mile, tried to push and hold on as she went uphill near McIntyre Ski Area and knew she could sail a bit going downhill from there.

"I think the last 800 meters, with everyone cheering and everything, I definitely think that cheering and all of the people there really helps me race," Perreard said, "and I was just kind of hoping that that would give me some more adrenaline and take me through to the finish, which, I think, worked out."

Hanover (33 points) was the Division II team runner-up behind Oyster River (29 points).

After winning the Meet of Champions race, Perreard was the top New Hampshire runner and the only one to finish among the top 10 at the New England Championships with her time of 18:08.16 on the Troy Howard Middle School course in Belfast, Maine.

"She improved over a minute since last year," Picconi said. "Last year, she was a phenom. This year, she was a phenom minus another minute."

Other athletes considered for the October honor were Bishop Guertin High School cross-country runner Matthew Giardina, College of the Holy Cross football player Jordan Fuller, University of New England football player Jarrett Henault, Campbell High School football player Logan Daigle, John Stark Regional field hockey player Lauryn Guevin and Bishop Brady High School golfer Mady Savary.

Giardina, a junior, won both the NHIAA Division I individual championship and the Alvirne Battle of the Border meet in October. Giardina won the D-I championship race for the second straight year with his time of 15:51.85 — the fastest by any competitor across the three division meets that day.

Fuller, a junior running back from North Hampton, rushed for 358 yards and seven touchdowns on 58 carries for Division I (FCS) Holy Cross over three October games.

Henault, a junior quarterback from Goffstown, went 47 of 75 passing for 601 yards and threw six touchdowns and three interceptions over a 2-1 October campaign for the Division III Nor'easters.

Daigle, a senior running back, ran for 334 yards and three touchdowns on 40 carries over NHIAA Division III Campbell's final three regular-season games — all wins.

Guevin, a sophomore center midfielder, recorded four goals, including the lone goal in John Stark's 1-0 triumph over Kennett in the NHIAA Division II title game, and four assists over seven October games.

Savary, a Franklin resident, tied for sixth place at the Girls New England Championships on Oct. 28 at Mohegan Sun Golf Course in Baltic, Connecticut, and took fourth out of six golfers in the NHIAA Girls Individual Championship on Oct. 12-14 at Beaver Meadow Golf Course in Concord.

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Previous 2023 winners: January, Brooks Craigue, Concord (hockey); February, Aidan Cox, Northwood (indoor track); March, Caroline Harvey, Salem (hockey); April, Sarah Taylor, Concord (softball); May, Annie Parker, Portsmouth (lacrosse); June, Maddy Wachter, Concord (softball); July, Jack Pepin, Plaistow (golf); August, Carys Fennessy, Dover (golf); September, Audrey Carter, Dover (field hockey).

To submit a nomination for future Athlete of the Month consideration, email the Union Leader Sports Department at sports@unionleader.com and enter "Athlete of the Month" in the subject line.