A fall at two miles. A missed turn.
None of it mattered.
It was all the same for Abby Hennessy at the Brooks Northeast Championships.
Just as she has done all season long, the Westford Academy senior stayed in control and made Saturday’s race entirely her own. Facing a deep, talented field that featured many of the region’s best at Franklin Park, Hennessy proved to be the strongest of them all, crossing the line in a winning time of 16 minutes, 47.3 seconds for the five-kilometer distance.
The University of Washington commit finished comfortably ahead of runner-up and defending champion Virginia Strauss of Saucon Valley (PA), who ran 17:01.1. Leah Starkey, a sophomore from Ocean Township (NJ), placed third in 17:02.6.
Hennessy’s time at Franklin Park was less than a second off the 16:46.6 effort she ran to take the crown at the Dual County League Championships on Oct. 24. The silver lining to her victory and top-10 finish is a trip to San Diego on Dec. 13 where she’ll match up against the nation’s elite at the Brooks XC Championships at Balboa Park.
“It was such a big goal of mine to get to go there,” she said. “I know it’s a really hilly course and to break 17 (minutes} is challenging on that course. (My goal is to) just to have a good race, and run with the competition. There’s some amazing girls that will be there that will really push me. I am just excited to see what I can do there.”
Hennessy becomes the first Massachusetts girl to win the regional meet — formerly the Foot Locker Northeast Championships — since Northbridge native Sydney Masciarelli of Marianapolis Prep )CT) captured the title in 2018. Masciarelli went on to win the national championship that season.
“I am super excited,” said the Westford Academy standout. “I knew that there was a lot of amazing talent in this race. I was very excited to go into this race with a lot of competition and see how I can react to that.”
It was essentially Hennessy’s race from the start. She held a two-to-three second cushion by the mile and was able to increase her lead during the closing stages of the race. Her 14-second win was her closest race of the season, and it came despite a few mishaps the second half of the race.
“I fell and I missed a turn. I tried not to let those get the best of me,” she said. “It was really cold today, but I think I had a bit of a home-court advantage on this course.”
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Experience Pays Off As Alvazzi Nearly Books Trip West
The Bay State nearly had two booking trips out west in the girls’ race. Finishing 11th in the race was Andover Phillips Academy’s Amelia Alvazzi. The talented senior delivered a breakthrough performance with a time of 17:44.7 — a PR by nearly 30 seconds. Alvazzi, the runner-up at the NEPSTA Division 1 Championships on Nov. 8, placed 13th at last year’s regionals in 18:30.9.
The Big Blue standout used the experience from her 2024 race to fuel her most recent success.
“My plan this year was to start off stronger,” she said. “I think last year by mile one I was in the top 60. Here, I tried to target the top 20 and then just work my way up so I would have less work than starting off in the back and trying to move up. With each mile, I just tried to catch people. I always know I can rely on my speed, so I just worked the back end to the finish. I think it really did a service to me.”
Also finishing among the top 30 for MA were Evelyn Pires (13th, 17;56.1), Abby Artabane of Emerging Elite (16th, 18:06.5). Canton’s Lauren Raffetto (17th, 18:07.5), and Westford Academy’s Emily Wedlake.
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Richardson & McGrath Deliver Strong Performances In Boys’ Race
Massachusetts came up short with qualifiers in the boys’ race, but several local harriers produced solid efforts at Saturday’s competition.
The top finisher was Brody Richardson of Williston Northampton School. The junior standout placed 12th overall with a PR of 15:38.5. Like Alvazzi, Richardson’s effort was a major breakthrough. Just three weeks prior, he captured individual honors at the NEPSTA Division 2 Championships. Richardson also competed last week at the Nike Cross Regionals Northeast (NXR-NE), where he placed 44th in 16:29.40.
Division 1A champion Greg McGrath was also in the mix. The Boston College High senior finished 15th overall, clocking 15:44.5 on the challenging 5K layout.
Hopkinton’s Sean Finnegan, a top-30 finisher at last week’s NXR-NE, finished 22nd at Brooks, crossing the line in 15:54.7.
Henry McLane, a junior at Noble & Greenough, took 24th with a personal best of 15:57.9. He was followed closely by Massachusetts’ Colin Kurtz of BC High (28th, 16:01.1) and St. Sebastian’s John Joyce (29th, 16:02.4).
