Throughout the week, Bay State Running will take a quick look at some of our top teams and individuals that will be competing at this weekend’s divisional state championships. Here we feature the Division 3A, 3B and 3C girls’ races that will take place at Northfield Mountain
DIVISION 3
At Northfield Mountain
Division 3A
Day/Time: Saturday/11:45 a.m.
Teams: Greater Lowell Tech, Montachusett RVT, Tri County RVT, Lynn Vocational, Nashoba Valley Tech, Upper Cape Cod RVT, South Shore Voc/Tech, Taconic, Medway, Belchertown, Weston, North Reading, Swamscott, Triton, Norwell, Minutemen Regional, Pentucket, Nipmuc, Oakmont Regional, Hudson, Keefe Tech, Springfield HS of Sci. and Tech, Fairhaven, Sandwich, Norfolk County Aggie, Seekonk, Dennis-Yarmouth, Pathfinder RVT, Salem, East Bridgewater, Quabbin, Abington, Bellingham, Stoneham, Lynnfield, Pittsfield, Advanced Math & Science Academy Charter, Old County Regional Voc-Tech, Winthrop, Cape Cod Regional, Franklin County Tech, Joseph Case Tech
Teams To Watch: Dennis Yarmouth, Pentucket
Outlook: The two leading contenders here are defending champion Madelyn Germain of Norfolk County Aggie and Pentucket’s Kaylie Dalgar. Germain won the Massachusetts Vocational School XC Championships and last weekend was seventh at the Frank Mooney Invitational with a season best of 18:54.30 at Wrentham. She also competed at Northfield Mountain a few weeks ago under awful conditions at the Dick Atkinson Invitational. The was NCA senior was third overall with a time of 20:30.60 on a course made slippers with a steady rainfall throughout the race. Dalgar, a UMass-Amherst commit, took the individual title at the Cape Ann League Championships where she was timed in 19:18.40 at Wtentham. She ran a best of 18:34 at the Twilight Invite.
Dennis Yarmouth, a third-place finisher at the Cape Island Conference Championships and Pentucket, a runner-up at the Cape Ann League Championships, appear to be the schools that have the best chance at claiming team honors.
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Division 3B
Day/Time: Saturday/1:15 p.m.
Teams: Granby, Nantucket, Ipswich, Rockland, Northbridge, Excel Academy Charter, Monomoy Regioonal, Wahconah Regional, McCann Tech, Monument Mountain Regional, Bristol County Agric., Hamilton-Wenham, Smith Voc, & Agric., Millbury Memorial, Westfield Tech. Academy, Randolph, Amesbury, Littleton, Lunenburg, Mashpee, Hampshire Regional, Gardner, Cohasset, Clinton, Leicester, Tyngsborough, Uxbridge, Sturgis Charter West, Sturgis Charter East, West Bridgewater, Frontier Regional, Oxford, Blackstone Millville, Carver, Easthampton, Bourne, Innovation Academy, KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate, Sutton, Ayer Shirley, Matignon, Douglas, Greenfield
Teams To Watch: Hampshire Regional, Sutton, Hamilton Wenham
Outlook: West Bridgewater’s Ella Dunbury and Oxford’s Cameron Davis appear to be the class of the field and could break away early and turn this race into a two-person battle. Davis, who is only a freshman, was fourth at the recent Frank Mooney Invite where she was timed in an impressive 18:29.80 at Wrentham. She has a best of 18:20.66, an effort that placed her third overall in the Small School race at the Twilight Invitational. Dunbury, the South Coast Conference champion, was slightly ahead of Davis at Twilight where she was second overall in 18:20.23. This one could be determined in the final stretch of the race. Hamilton-Wenham’s Grace Rich and Sutton’s Annabella Lamoureaux are among others we expect to be fighting for those top spots.
Team-wise, it could be a close one, too. Sutton, Hamphire Regional and Frontier are all capable of pulling off the victory this weekend.
Division 3C
Day/Time: Saturday/2:45 p.m..
Teams: Georgetown, Millis, Mount Greylock, Quaboag Reg., Bromfield, Wareham, David Prouty, Mystic Valley, Springfield International Charter, Boston Collegiate Charter, Maynard, Hopedale, Mahar Regional, Narragansett Regional, Tahanto Regional, Bartlett, Holbrook, Rising Tide Charter, Abby Kelley Foster, Salem Academy, Murdock, Southbridge, Lenox Memorial, Hampden Charter, Parker Charter, Renaissance, Lee, Palmer, Saint Joseph Prep, Hoosac Valley, Pioneer Charter, University Park Campus, John J. Duggan Academy, Sizer School, Mount Everett Regional, Monson, Pioneer Valley Regional, Pioneer Charter, Hopkins Academy, Gateway Regional, Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter, Mohawk Trail Regional, Paulo-Freire Social Justice Charter, Collegiate Charter School of Lowell, Academy of Notre Dame, Cape Cod Academy, North Brookfield, Pioneer Valley Christian Academy
Teams To Watch: Mount Greylock, Bromfield, Lenox Memorial
Outlook: There’s a good chance we’ll have an intense battle for individual honors with the likely contenders being Bromfield’s Evelyn Wool, Murdock’s Avery Murphy and Lenox’s Alice Culver. Like most, all three runners had their 5K bests at the Twilight Invite with Wool third in the Large School race with a time of 18:27.0, Murphy clocking 18:46.11 to take sixth in the Small School race and Culver timed in 18:57.13 to finish seventh behind her Murdock rival. Wool and Murphy did face each other recently at Northfield Mountain where they competed at the Dick Atkinson Invitational. Under wet and miserable conditions, Wool was second overall in 20:09.58, while Murphy was fourth at 20:50.71. Right now, Saturday’s weather has no rain in the forecast with cloudy skies and the temperature in the low 40-degree range at race time. The conditions will be a lot different from the steady downpour and muddy trails at last month’s meet. Culver is coming off a win at the WMass X-C Championships less than two weeks ago. She ran 19:09 on a difficult 5K at Stanley Park. Keep an eye on Bromfield’s Rosie Bradley, too. She had a PR of 18:59 from Twilight and was second at the Mid-Wach League Championships on Oct. 28, crossing the line in 20:40.10 in the Div. C race.
Mount Greylock, Bromfield and Lenox appear to all have a chance at taking home the team plaque. With a significantly better spread between their No. 1 and No. 5 than their other two rivals, Mount Greylock appears to be the front-runner.
