The lights were on for the first nighttime edition of the Bay State Invitational. But for Emily Flagg, competing in one of two varsity races at Saturday’s meet, it was simply — lights out!
The outstanding Whitinsville Christian senior made her 2026 cross-country debut in astonishing fashion. Flagg not only dominated the competition in the ‘B’ Race, she did it while rewriting the record books on the five-kilometer layout at the Wrentham Developmental Center. Taking the guesswork out of the outcome long before she crossed the finish line, the Crusader standout powered her way to a new course mark — and mammoth PR — on the dirt trails, clocking 17 minutes, 5.7 seconds.
Flagg was a dominating 40.3 seconds ahead of her closest pursuer with Canton’s Lauren Raffetto taking runner-up honors in a strong 17:45.3. Finishing third was Boston Latin Academy’s Sara Blanco, who was timed in 17:52.3.
“I came in off a track season that I was really, really happy with and wasn’t really sure what kind of cross-country shape I was in,” Flagg said. “I was excited and just kind of ran how I felt. And I feel really great for the time.”
Equally gratifying for Whitinsville Christian on a perfect night for racing, with cool temperatures and no wind, was the performance of its team. With three runners among the top 10 and all five scorers among the top 26, the Crusaders defeated Amherst-Pelham, 56-62.
Following Flagg across the line was her twin sister, Abby Flagg, who was fourth overall in 18:11. Junior Inez Smith (10th, 19:14.5), senior Josephina Dyke (23rd, 20:33.1) and senior Isabella Aloise (26th, 20:35.9) completed the scoring.
Emily Flagg will look to feed off the momentum she created in her first race of the season. She has next week’s Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational circled on her calendar, where she will be looking for her fourth straight win at the popular meet at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds.
Flagg is the three-time defending Division 2B champion and a back-to-back winner at the Meet of Champions.
“I think my goals kind of stay the same. I’d love to be in the mid 16 (minutes) by the end of the season,” she said. “I definitely feel that’s possible based off this.
Sub-18-minute performances were also recorded in the ‘A’ Race at Bay State. Just a half-hour earlier, Holliston sophomore Lucy Downin came from behind late in the race to post a nearly six-second victory over Billerica’s Kylie Donahue, clocking 17:45.0.
Donahue, who held the lead for much of the race, settled for second in a 30-plus second PR of 17:50.9. Her teammate and twin sister, Caitlyn Donahue, was third in a best of 18:26.7.
Downin took the patient approach. She stayed tucked in with the leaders until about a half-mile remaining, when she took over the front-running duties. From there, she maintained a lead she would never relinquish.
“My goal for the race was to stay with the leaders of the group,” Downin said. “I put myself in the first pack and just watched Kylie the whole way and kept her in distance.”
The Holliston sophomore is coming off a breakthrough freshman campaign that included a Division 2B title and third-place finish at the Meet of Champions in cross country. Her success continued on the track, highlighted by a 4:51.18 mile at the New Balance Nationals in June and a near-victory in the 1,000 meters at the Meet of Champions last winter.
“I think my goals are to hopefully get around 17:30ish [for the 5K], place again at states and maybe make it to nationals,” Downin said.
No doubt, Saturday’s race was a great start toward accomplishing those goals — and likely more before the season’s end.
In the team competition, it was all Billerica. The Indians had all five of their scores in the top 11 to easily defeat runner-up Hamilton-Wenham, 29-105. Connecticut entry Haddam Killingworth was third with 108.
Behind the Donahue siblings for Billerica, which ranks No. 2 in our New Balance Power Rankings, were senior Hartlie Siegal (sixth, 18:48.9), freshman Maya Niles (seventh, 18:59.7) and sophomore Evelyn Wesling (11th, 19:23.4).
Billerica had a 1-2 finish from teammates Sahil Gandhi and junior Mason Niles in the boys’ ‘A’ Race . Gandhi, a senior, posted the fastest time of the day, breaking the tape in 15:14.6. Close behind was Niles, who clocked 15:16.8. Eleven in the race broke 16 minutes.
In a match-up between two of our state’s best, Brookline defeated Concord-Carlise, 51-92. The Warriors were led by senior Liam Hartmann (fifth, 15:23.3), senior Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem (sixth, 15:35.8), junior Elias Thomasson (15th, 16:03.0), junior Toby Paradise (24th, 16:15.5) and junior Matt Ritter (25th, 16:16.2).
Concord-Carlisle, which had a top finish from senior Braeden Qualye, who was 16th overall in 16:04.8, manufactured a low 24-secoind gap between its one and five runners.
Groton-Dunstable’s Andrew Kosiba won a close race in the meet’s finale, the boys’ ‘B’ Race. Just four seconds separated the top three finishers with Kosiba capturing the individual title in 15:30.0. With identical times of 15:34., Weymouth’s Patrick Geagan and Boston Latin Academy’s Bradon Spiess finished second and third, respectively.
Teamwise, it was North Andover that came out on top with a 71-98 victory over second-place St. John’s Prep. North Andover’s trio of junior William Thomas (15:52.3), senior Tucker LaRosa (11th, 15:57.7) and junior Liam Rand (15:59.4) claimed the 10th through 12th spots. Also scoring for the Scarlet Knights were junior Owen Desmond (21st, 16:11.4) and junior Tristan Rand (26th, 16:20.1).
