What happened at Saturday’s MIAA Division 3 State Championships in Wrentham?
To sum it up quickly, we had four teams score 40 point or less to earn their titles. In the other two, a victory wasn’t assured until late in race. Individually, we had two runners defend their crowns and four new winners, including one very-talented ninth-grader.
RESULTS
***
For the first time in three decades, Norwell claimed the girls’ Div. 3A crown. Highlighted by a first-place finish from freshman Katherine Murray, the Clippers defeated second-place Greater Lowell Tech, 70-108. Murray clocked a time of 18 minutes, 50.59 seconds to hold off Swampscott’s Annabelle Averett (second, 18:53.37). The Clippers bunched them together with four of their harriers among the top 20.
Norwell swept the individual titles with junior John Doherty racing to a time of 16:11.91 in the boys’ competition.. Triton’s Cassidy McBee was second at 16:22.29. Weston took the team hardware with a 70-82 decision over Greater Lowell Tech. It was all about pack mentality for the Wildcats. Just 44 seconds separated its top five scoring runners. Just 47 ticks was the gap between Weston’s No. 1 and No. 6.
Hamilton-Wenman went home with two team banners in Div. 2B with a pair of dominating performances. On the girls’ side, the Colonials beat runner-up Hampshire Regional, 40-102. With all five among the top 15, the boys scored just 35 points, a comfortable 66 points ahead of Hampshire. in an upset of the top seeds for the girls, Gardner’s Krista Bettez blazed to a huge PR of 18:29.6, a best by a minute! H-W senior Ben Rich raced to the fastest time of the day in the boys’ race, earning his medal with a time of 15:36.96
With four of its runners among the top six and all five across the line after the first 11, Parker Charter captured its second straight title by scoring only 25 points, Bromfield was second with 82 points. Panther teammates Henry Jacobsen (15:47.98) and Nathaniel Henshaw (15:58.63) went 1-2 in the race. Oxford’s Cameron Davis made it back-to-back in the girls’ race with a fast 17:53.58, more than 30 seconds in front of her closest rival. Bromfield took the hardware with 87 points, just seven points ahead of runner-up Mount Graylock.
Check it out! We have more than 2,000 photos from Saturday’s meet and interviews with our winners (and Mike Mahon!). Just click on the links below!
PHOTOS
INTERVIEWS
