MANCHESTER — The first three miles of the boys' elite race at the 38th annual Manchester Invitational Cross Country Classic didn't matter.

It all came down to the last point-one mile, and that's where Malcolm Plunkett of South Burlington, Vt., edged out Pat Coppinger of Lowell, Mass., for the win at Derryfield Park on Saturday.

“I think it's the closest race I've ever run,” Plunkett said. “I've never had to lean so hard in my life.”

The boys' elite was one of 10 races held on the day at what is one of the largest high school cross country events that attracts some of the best talent in the Northeast.

Plunkett trailed Coppinger by a couple of meters when the runners re-entered the park and was right on his heels as they approached the finish line. Then Plunkett got a sudden burst and managed to stretch across first. Both racers finished with official times of 15 minutes, 50 seconds.

“Neither of us wanted to give it up,” Coppinger said. “He just had a little more at the end.”

It was hard to tell who had won the race even as they crossed the finish line. It wasn't until Plunkett entered the chute to exit the course first that it became clear who the victor was.

► Click here for complete race results from coolrunning.com.

“I saw the finish line and I knew my team was watching,” Plunkett said. “I was thinking how do I want to look back at this race, as winning by half a second or losing by half a second.”

The boys' small school race was also close and the top two runners there had the best times of the day as both Dan Curts of Ellsworth, Maine, and Silas Eastman of Fryeburg Academy, Maine, finished at 15:42.

It wasn't until the two runners rounded the last turn that Curts got a kick. He pulled even with Eastman and then eventually passed him by the smallest of margins over the final 800 meters.

“I don't know if I held him off as much as I made a move,” Curts said. “I just felt good today.”

There was only one local individual winner in the races. That was Alexa Pelletier of Winnacunnet of Hampton, who took first in the girls' large school race with a time of 19:08. She beat Elizabeth Hansen of Chariho High School in Wood River Junction, R.I., with a time of 19:36.

Pelletier paced herself for the first mile and then kicked it into gear when she got to the hilly portion of the course. She passed some runners and didn't trail after that.

“I feel like I can pass people on hills,” Pelletier said. “I stayed on someone's tail and at the hill something was there and I just did it.”

Two local teams won their respective races as well. They were Merrimack Valley of Penacook in the boys' large school division with 124 points and Oyster River of Durham in the boys' small school division with 88 points.

The 10 races were: boys' freshman, girls' freshman, boys' junior varsity, girls' junior varsity, boys' varsity small school, girls' varsity small school, boys' varsity large school, girls' varsity large school, boys' elite and girls' elite.

The winner of the girls' elite race was Taylor Spillane of Champlain Valley, Vt., with a time of 18:07. She also made her move at the hills.

“My coach told me the race doesn't start until you get to the hill,” Spillane said. “She told me to stay with people and start going there if you can, if you can feel it.”

She kept pace with her teammate. Autumn Eastman, who took second place, until they got to the hills. Then Spillane took off and didn't relinquish the lead.

“I knew where I needed to be,” Spillane said

Eastman was second at 18:23 and Elizabeth Conway of Manchester Central took third with 19:10. It was the best finish at the Invitational for the senior, who has placed in the top 10 all four years.

“It's a nice way to see where you're at,” Conway said. “It's a good indicator.”

The winner of the boys' large school race was Jacob Kilcoyne (16:12) of Chariho, who beat B.J. Smith of Concord at 16:13. The winner of the girls' small school race was Aleta Looker (19:17) of Ellsworth, edging out Kirstin Sandreuter (19:22) of Greely in Cumberland, Maine.

“It was way faster than I was thinking I'd do,” Looker said. “One of my goals was to get top 10. This is a big surprise.”

Bishop Hendricken of Warwick, R.I., won the boys' elite team scoring with 35 points, while Champlain Valley and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake of Glenville, N.Y., tied for first in the girls' elite at 59 points. Lincoln-Sudbury, Mass., won the girls' large school with 101 points and South Kingstown, R.I., won the girls' small school at 74 points.

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Mark Quirk may be reached at mquirk@unionleader.com.