HADLEY — In its first year as an MIAA-sanctioned program, the Easthampton cross country team is already seeing progress.
The team started as a club in 2016, but with an increase in participants this season, the Eagles now have a set schedule from week to week.
In addition to the team itself being young, so is its roster. With so much youth, the Eagles want to create an environment where runners of any age feel empowered to be leaders.
“That has been one of the things that is hard about starting a program, we don’t have the older kids to look up to,” Easthampton coach Ashley Krause said. “But when you get to have some success and have kids that work hard, it helps the rest of the program.”
Easthampton competed with Hopkins Academy, Mahar and McCann Tech in a meet at Hadley Reservoir on Tuesday.
Brooke Bongiovanni placed first overall in the girls race in 20 minutes, 19 seconds for Easthampton, which beat McCann Tech, 22-33.
The freshman has been one of the Eagles’ top runners this season. In addition to Bongiovanni’s performance, teammate Waverly Kanelong placed second overall in 20:59 on the 2.7-mile course.
“We knew Brooke was strong, and she is, but surprisingly so,” Krause said. “She has a very good mental game. Her performances raises the bar for everyone else.”
The Eagles had five girls on its team last year. This season, that total has doubled to 10.
Having more girls on the team has given returning runners more people to train and bond with.
“Now we don’t have to run with the boys all the time,” Bongiovanni said.
Kanelong has consistently attempted to recruit friends to join the team.
“I’ve tried to get girls to run cross country for two years,” the junior captain said.
Like the girls team, the boys squad has grown and now fields 10 runners.
Jonah Slaghekke is one of the boys program’s top returning runners. He finished 10th overall in 19:20 on Tuesday.
“He has definitely progressed,” Krause said. “It’s nice for him to have more people to run with. He has been one of the more serious runners all along.”
As the team has grown, so has the dedication. Entering its first year as a sanctioned program, Slaghekke is happy to see that more runners have invested themselves this season.
“I think the team in past years hasn’t focused as much on training,” Slaghekke said. “This year I have seen it, more people taking it seriously.”
Hopkins Academy is another young program that has taken big strides in its first few years.
This season is the program’s fifth with a boys team, but the first with a dedicated girls team.
The Golden Hawks had one girl on the team last season. This year they have five. Having enough girls to field a team has made competition more enjoyable for runners.
“It’s really fun, because we all train and work together,” Sylvie DiBartolomeo said.
Freshman Astrid Williamson was the lone runner last season.
“It’s a lot more fun now,” she said.
DiBartolomeo placed third overall in the girls race in 20:19 on Tuesday. The Golden Hawks were missing one runner due to injury and couldn’t qualify for a team score.
The boys team has also seen an increase in participation.
Sophomore Johnathan Hanscom has been the team’s standout performer so far this season. He finished first overall in 15:27, a Hadley Reservoir course record.
Hanscom “came into camp the most fit guy I’ve seen,” Hopkins coach Jeff Mish said. “This is the fifth year of the program and no one has come in the same condition that he came in, so I can’t attribute it to great coaching. He has been working steady. We have another race here next week. He might do it again.”
Hanscom had the mark in mind when he arrived to the course.
“I was definitely trying to break” the record, Hanscom said.
Devon Ortmeyer (seventh, 18:36) and Cade Lanzafame (eighth, 18:47) rounded out Hopkins Academy’s top three. The Hawks beat Mahar, 25-30, and Easthampton, 21-34. They lost to McCann Tech, 24-31.
The program lost three of its top four runners to graduation after last season.
“We had an initial nucleus of guys that graduated last year that really gave a jump start to the program,” Mish said. “This is kind of a rebuilding year from that.”
The program is young in several ways, but with impressive performances from the likes of Hanscom and DiBartolomeo, hopes are high.
“We want to be competitive with Amherst and Northampton at some point,” Mish said. “That is the ultimate goal, to be competitive with both of those towns.”