It was a big day for Greta Hammer out in Oregon.
The Needham junior finished 25th out of nearly 200 runners at Saturday’s Nike Cross Nationals. Hammer was timed in 17 minutes, 51.6 seconds for the challenging 5K at the Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland. She was the first runner from the Northeast region and just five seconds from earning All-American status with a top-21 finish.
Hammer’s performance caps off a sensational cross-country season, one that was highlighted by her victory in the Division 1 race at the Meet of Champions and a runner-up finish at NXR-Northeast on Nov. 16, an effort that earned her a qualifying spot at NXN.
Well done, Greta!
***
Boston University kicked off its season in hosting several high-level competitions on its’ lightning fast oval with Saturday’s Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener.
The meet featured two NCAA records. In the men’s 3,000m, the top four finishers broke the previous record of 7:36.42. North Carolina teammates Ethan Strand and Parker Wolfe simply destroyed that mark with Strand edging Wolfe by eight hundredths of a second with a winning 7:30.15. NCAA cross-country titlist Doris Lemngole established a new 5K mark with a triumphant 14:52.57. Although not a record, Harvard’s Graham Blanks, who defended his X-C title a few weeks ago, ran the second fastest 5,000m in NCAA history with an insane 12:59.89.
The daylong meet also featured a number of top performances by some star MA alumni.
Northeastern’s Avan Duggan, a 2020 grad of Milton, clocked 4:49.78 to finish 19th in the women’s mile. In the men’s race, Virginia junior and Belmont Hill School alum James Donahue raced to a time of 4:09.79.
Former Newton South great Lucy Jenks, now a grad student at Georgetown, was 12th overall in the women’s 5K. Jenks, an NCAA qualifier last year for Stanford, was timed in a PR of 15:27.82. Her previous best of 15:38.53 was set at last year’s Colyear-Danville meet.
Washington’s Justin O’Toole, who starred at the Middlesex School, finished third in the 1,000m with a best of 2:21.44.
Former Cambridge Rindge & Latin standout Kylee Bernard, a sophomore at Boston College, was fourth overall in the 300m with a time of 39.27.
UMass-Lowell freshman Devan Moreau, a 2024 grad of Greater Lowell Tech, raced to a best of 8:28.92 in the men’s 3K.
***
This weekend starts the competitive portion of the high school indoor track & field season for Bay Staters with the MSTCA Winter Festival at the Reggie Lewis Center. The Small Schools are slated for Saturday, while the Large Schools compete on Sunday.
Don’t forget the second annual Marathon Sports Winter Festival, to be held on Sunday, Dec. 29, at The TRACK at New Balance.
