The first running of the Trailblazers was 1975. Notable context: in the 1976 Olympics, women were still not permitted to compete in events over 1.5 kilometers let alone the 5Ks this team would race. The first Class L Championship showing was 12th place, but by 1977 the team streaked 11-0 in dual meets, won Class L, won MOC, and came in 2nd in the New England Championships. They would go on to win the New England Championships in 1978 and 1979, remaining undefeated.
I’m not the best one to tell the history of the girls cross country team at Pinkerton, but I sure want to help someone tell it. I want to hear about those late 1970s teams. I was alongside some of the runners in the early 1990s, but it wasn’t until about 2014 that I started reconnecting with the Trailblazer’s travails. I was thrilled to be recording data in-season when Coach Amy Bernard took a ridiculously talented team to win Division 1, MOC, and New Englands in 2017.
The Sub 20: list linked here is built from the listing coaches have maintained and Amy Bernard passed on to me, complemented by other races I can find. The Top 50 lists are taken from my own database. The database is rather solid for Derryfield and postseasons from 1988 forward. For all other courses and races, it is good from 1993 to 2000 thanks to former Coach Ted Carey. Lancer Timing filled in most of the data after Ted’s time, but it leaves me pretty weak in dual meets from 2001 to 2014. New Hampshire Cross Country (what a great thing) helps me out now, along with press release emails that Coach Jon Alizio graciously includes me on.
As of today, the Trailblazers database contains:
- 401 athletes
- 348 competitions stretching back to the inaugural 1975 season
- 2,251 performances (and I will gladly receive any I am missing)
Go Red.