One last shot to qualify for this weekend’s Meet of Champions, a chance to capture or defend a team title, or an opportunity to finish off the cross-country season on a high note.
Those reason (and more) are why the throngs of participants made their way to one of three divisional state championships that were held Satruday under moderately brisk conditions. Kudos to all who earned the rite to compete at the the championship meets and those who brought home the hardware, both individually and as a team. We had several performances on both sides that gave indication that the upcoming MOC has the potential to be something special this coming weekend at Fort Devens.
Here’s our recap of what happened at the Division 3 meet at Northfield Mountain.
Division 3A
As we expected, the two leading contenders for the individual title secured the top two spots with defending champion Madelyn Germain taking first and Pentucket’s Kaylie Dalgar placing second. Germain won by about 100 meters over her rival, crossing the line in 19 minutes, 30.81 seconds for the difficult five-kilometer course. Dalgar was timed in 19:48.09. Rounding out the top five were Pentucket’s Susan Wisniewski (third, 20:14.45), and Dennis Yarmouth teammates Olivia Pendelton (fourth, 20:15.17) and Sienna Lauze (fifth, 20:53.01).
Packing four runners among the first 15 finishers, Weston won the team title. The Wildcats defeated second-place Hudson, 82-117. Comprising the scoring were Chloe Schriller (10th, 21:19.60), Gabriela Friel (11th, 21:45.83), Alessandra Gavris (14th, 21:55.65), Anne Moser (15th, 22:05.20) and Jessica Bourne (38th, 23:27.04).
In the boys’ competition, Greater Lowell Tech’s Devin Moreau continued his excellence on the trails this fall by taking the top prize with a time of 16:35.49. Norwell’s Thomas Corbet was the only other runner under 17 minutes, solidifying second in 16:53.77. He was followed by East Bridgewater’s Ezra Blasko (third, 17:03.23), Pentucket;s Jackson Beaupariant (fourth, 17:06.80) and Greater Lowell Tech’s Seamus Tully (fifth, 17:09.86).
Weston completed the sweep for in the team competition with 63 points for the boys’ crown, five points ahead of runner-up Greater Lowell Tech. Norwell was third with 94 points. The Wildcats had just a 51-second gap between their one and five with Jack Tatum (sixth, 17:11.12), Carsen Valenta (seventh, 17:20.81), James Osborn (tenth, 17:48.94), Ben Tavares (14th, 17:58.42) and Quinn Garry (16th, 18:02.45) scoring for the winners.
Division 3B
Underclassmen ruled the girls’ race in this meet with six runners occupying the top 10 placements. Up front, it was all Hamilton Wenham with a 1-2-3 finish that included freshmen Grace Rich and Asa Labell and junior Charlotte Madden. Rich broke the tape in 20:10.16. Labell earned the silver in 20:17.62 and Madden was timed in 20:27.61 for third. Advanced Math and Science Academy’s Katelyn Massey (20:40.12) and Hampshire ninth-grader Kathleen Barry (20:41.42) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
As to be expected after the performance of their first three harriers, Hamilton Wenham won the team title with a 73-97 decision over Advanced Math and Science. The Generals remaining two scoring runners were Sarah Almeida (33rd, 23:37.15) and Sophia Happel (39th, 24:00.31).
Individually, Littleton’s Timothy Rank posted an upset over Northbridge’s Marcus Reilly, the defending champion. Rank clocked a time of 15:57.86 to Reilly’s runner-up effort of 16:25.16. Surgis East’s Shane Stanghellini (third, 16:40.60), Monument Mountain’s Everett Pacheco (fourth, 16:43.73) and Frontier’s Evan Hadlund (fifth, 16:47.53) took the next three spots.
Hamilton-Wenham made it two-for-two in the team competition. The Generals beat second-place Hampshire, 64-98. Littleton was third with 107 points. Ben Rich (sixth, 16:48.51), James Regan (seventh, 17:01.73), Clark Glidden (12th, 17:49.16), Cole Regan (13th, 17:52.21) and Ryan Regan (33rd, 19:00.86) scored for Hamilton Wenham
Division 3C
Oxford’s Cameron Davis beat a strong field to earn top honors in the girls’ meet with a time of 19:10.90. Davis , a fourth-place finisher at the recent Frank Mooney Coaches Invitational, was comfortably ahead of West Bridgewater’s Ella Dunbury, who was timed in 19:20.47 for second. Rounding out the top five were Bromfield School’s Evelyn Wool (third, 19:29.54), Lenox Memorial’s Alice Culver (fourth, 19:45.97) and Murdock’s Avery Murphy (fifth, 20:13.25).
With Wool leading the way, Bromfield dominated the field for winning banner, scoring just 49 points. Lenox was second with 101, while Mount Greylock finished third with 130 points. Rosie Bradley (seventh, 20:48.15), Isabel Jackson (ninth, 20:56.39), Emma Squire (14th, 21:27.78) and Abby Wool scored for the victors.
It didn’t take long to determine the outcome in the boys’ race. Parker Charter had all five of its scoring runners among the top 10, including the first two, en route to an impressive 25-95 win over second-place Lenox Memorial. Finishing in the 1-2 spots were Henry Jacobsen and Caleb Hatlevig. Jacobsen won with a time of 16:28.49, while Hatlevig was timed in 16:43.51 for the silver. Nathaniel Henshaw (sixth, 17:04.08), seventh-grader Jett Johnson (seventh, 17:04.15) and Connor Stach (tenth, 17:23.06) were the other scorers for Parker Charter.
Taking the 3-5 positions were Mount Greylock’s Oliver Swaney (third, 16:55.10), Monson’s Andrew Linkenhoker (fourth, 17:00.02) and Lenox Memorial’s Cormac Mathews (fifth, 17:01.45).
