AMHERST – Forget about a course record, Sophia Jacobs-Townsley has two more years to make that happen at the Amherst Invitational cross country meet.
Jacobs-Townsley served noticed Saturday that she not only may be the best female high school runner in western Massachusetts, but the state as well. The Amherst Regional sophomore won the Amherst Invitational at Hampshire College after finishing first with a time of 18 minutes, 25 seconds on the 5-kilometer course.
Last year, Jacobs-Townsley placed second with a time of 18:47. She finished 36 seconds behind winner Abigail Long, of Bishop-Feehan. On Saturday, Jacobs-Townsley beat Margot Ehrenthal, of Concord Carlisle, by seven seconds.
Once she passed Ehrenthal with about 800 yards remaining, Jacobs-Townsley did what she does best – used her powerful leg kick to finish first in the field.
How good is Jacobs-Townsley? She’s 3-for-3 this season after finishing first in both of Amherst’s dual meets.
Many of the Commonwealth’s elite teams took part in the event. Hopkinton won with 54 points and was followed by Wachusett (94) and Northampton (109).
Jacobs-Townsley became the first Amherst girl to win the race since Spring Greeney in 2004. The Hurricanes’ Amber Sayer prevailed two years earlier in a then-course record of 18:03. Sarah Armstrong of Needham ran 17:57 in 2014.
“I really wanted to get the course record, but I was very happy to come in first,” Jacobs-Townsley said. “I was very happy with my progress.”
Participating in track has helped her immensely.
“It was my first time doing track,” said Jacobs-Townsley, who used to be on the Amherst swim team before she decided to concentrate on running year round. “It did make a difference, but swimming was also critical.”
This race was a new experience for her.
“I had never been first going into the bottleneck before,” Jacobs-Townsley said. “That could have been good or bad because I’m probably better at catching people.”
Which is what she did after trailing early on.
“At the end, I gave it all I had,” she said. “This feels good because I had a goal to win.”
Leila Markosian, of Northampton, finished eighth in 19:55, giving western Mass. two girls in the top 10. Running with a pack of her teammates provided her with all of the motivation she needed.
“I wouldn’t have felt happy had the rest of my team not been here running with me,” Markosian said. “I stayed with my teammate, Evelyn Burke (14th in 20:11), for a lot of the race and my whole team was a huge motivation.”
It was the same strategy the Blue Devils have used to claim the last two Western Mass. Division I titles.
“We’re definitely a pack team,” Markosian said. “Doing this course last year, we had some familiarity”
Amherst freshman Zada Forde was 22nd in 20:46. The Hurricanes were fifth 168 points, Hampshire’s Sophia Prouty was 24th in 20:50. The Raiders were eighth (230).
On the boys side, Amherst’s Jack Yanko was 12th in 16:22.
“It was a good race and I felt all right,” Yanko said. “The first mile there was a big group and when some of the guys from Lowell started moving, I really couldn’t keep up with them.”
The first Northampton runner to finish was Ethan Milsark (28th, 16:49).
“It could have been better, but I gave it my all,” Milsark said. “This course is very fast.
Northampton finished ninth (228). Lowell took five of the top eight spots to win with 26 points.
Hampshire finished 23th (707).