Two of our state’s best achieved success from beyond the borders to earn the HOKA Athlete of the Week. Congratulations of Needham’s Greta Hammer and Westford Academy’s Paul Bergeron our girls’ and boys’ recipient of this week’s honor. Hammer, a sophomore, raced to the fastest time of the day at Saturday’s 48th annual Manchester (N.H.) Invitational. On a very difficult five-kilometer terrain at Derryfield Park, the Red Rocket standout blazed to a winning time of 18 minutes, 28.6 seconds. Just about two hours away at Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick, R.I., the Stanford-bound Bergeron beat a loaded field in the Championship race of the 16th annual Ocean State Invitational. The gifted harrier led 22 runners under 16 minutes with a triumphant 15:06 for the 5K distance.
