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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