5. Needham
Topping last season for Needham will be tough. After narrowly losing their conference meet to Wellesley, Needham will look for revenge this year. The Rockets are led be one of the best runners in the country in Greta Hammer. The defending champ from the Meet of Champs Division 1 race will look to repeat this year to help secure the lowest possible score of the rockets. While her individual accolades are guaranteed to pile up throughout the season, she has a strong team behind her.
Madison Roach and Allesia Uyenoyama ran 19:26 and 19:41 last season and could form a strong top three for Needham. They were both top twenty at the Bay State Conference Meet and top 25 at the Division 1A meet helping the rockets secure first place at the latter.
The next generation of Needham talent may have arrived with Eva Scharf. As a freshman she ran 20:13 and 5:28 for the Mile outdoors and will help bolster their squad. With another five runners returning under 21 minutes, the Rockets have plenty of depth. After finishing fifth at the Meet of Champions last season, Needham will look to improve and challenge for the win. However, a few more teams on this list may have something to say about that.
Projected Top 7:
12. Greta Hammer 17:32
11. Madison Roach 19:26
12. Alessia Uyenoyama 19:41
10. Eva Scharf 20:13
12. Janie Urban 20:39
12. Katie Burns 20:45
11. Sidney Gilbreth 20:45
