Reigning Meet of Champions winner Greta Hammer headed north of the border to claim her first Invitational win of the season. Last year, The Manchester Invite was the site of one of the few losses she saw all season. She came in second to Glastonbury great Brooke Strauss in 2024, with a time of 19:01 on the challenging course.
This year was a different story as she put 30 seconds on second place, and her previous time, running 18:29. A 30 second improvement over last season is noteworthy, considering she went undefeated the rest of the season until NXR. Overall, the #5 Needham girls finished 5th in the team standings. A solid performance on the tough course.
The Boys race featured the #10 North Andover boys who finished third overall amongst the strong field. The Scarlet Knights continued their torrid start to the season, led by Nicolas Floresquero-Llamas this time. Their lead pack has been interchangeable this season and he was their top finisher Saturday in 17:03. The rest of their top five finished in the top 50. While their times may not jump off the screen at you, keep in mind Greta Hammer only ran 18:29. Her PR is 17:32.
Overall, it was a great trip up for North Andover. They’ll race the divisional meet at Wrentham and then the Meet of Champions at Fort Devens. So far, they’ve proven they can race on any terrain.
The North Andover girls also made the trip up and finished 16th overall, out of 25 teams. Julia Kroon was first for them in 21:59.
The Lowell boys were also in attendance and finished 10th overall out of 35. James Kelly was first for Lowell in 17:17.
