GARDNER – It was Amherst runner Tamar Byl-Brann who said it best when asked what her strategy was going into Saturday’s MIAA Division 2 sectional meet.
“My goal was to really get involved in the race and really, like, embrace the pain,” the junior said.
Embracing the pain apparently worked for Byl-Brann, who finished fifth individually in the girls 2A race, as well as her teammates and fellow opponents. Both Northampton and Amherst had a banner day on Saturday, as both teams qualified for next week’s state meet at the sectional qualifier held at Gardner Municipal Golf Course. The Belchertown boys also managed to earn a spot at the state meet.
Byl-Brann was the fastest local finisher on the girls side with a time of 20 minutes, 29 seconds on a hilly, muddy course.
As has come to be expected of him, Northampton’s Riley Cole won the boys individual title in the 2B race, crossing the finish line in 16:19, 19 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.
“With the course like this, it wasn’t going to be about times, it’s just about getting the place. He even knew going in that he was going to win, essentially, it was just how hard he’s going to throw it down,” said Northampton boys head coach Eric Pfalzgraf. “He’s saving. He’s always thinking one step ahead.”
“He’s very strategic, and he wanted his teammates with him,” agreed Northampton girls head coach Linda Rowbotham of Cole. “And if he wanted to do anything today, it would have been the team win.”
That strategy worked well for the Blue Devils. Close behind Cole were Theodore King-Pollet (17:38) in 14th and Jude Mourad (17:43) in 17th, who led the team to their third-place team finish with 93 total points in a close battle between the top three teams. Northampton was just nine points behind second place Danvers, and 27 points behind first-place Newburyport.
“I know that the goal was to go top three. We knew there was some good competition coming in, Newburyport and a few other schools (are) really good teams, but I think we’re really happy with the results and we’re happy with how the race turned out,” King-Pollet said.
The Northampton girls’ team just managed to earn the final berth for the 2B state meet, thanks in part to its lineup depth that stepped up at the right time. In cross-country, the top five runners earn points towards the team’s total, with the sixth and seventh runners coming in as tie-breakers if needed.
“I wouldn’t say I was nervous. I was confident that the girls would be able to run well. I wasn’t positive that we’d make it as a team, but if we didn’t, I knew that at least four of them would make it as individuals,” said Rowbotham. “The fact that my fifth, sixth and seventh runner did what they needed to do – you probably heard my reaction. That was what I was hoping for.”
This year was the first time that teams across Massachusetts were introduced to a new state meet formula, one that divided the schools across the Commonwealth into different divisions. But one thing that kept the Hurricanes grounded was that their persistent rival this year, Longmeadow, was slotted into the same division and heat that they were.
“I feel really proud of the girls for today. I thought they ran even better than they did last week, on a tougher course with a different field than we’re used to running against,” Amherst girls head coach Elena Betke-Brunswick said. “It was great to have Longmeadow here, because we could work with them in a different context. And they’re making us better every race.”
It was that teamwork that pulled Byl-Brann to her fifth-place finish. The junior said she focused on running with Longmeadow’s Ada Grant for the race, which she was able to accomplish. The rest of the team was able to pack run together, with April Schilling earning the last medalist spot in 15th with a 21:14 time, and Elizabeth Sawicki (28th, 22:13), Amrita Rutter (30th, 22:22) and Julia Edgerly (34th, 22:44) all finishing within 31 seconds of each other. Their state qualifying performance kept their state qualifying streak alive; the Hurricanes girls team have qualified for states for the last 30 consecutive years.
The Hurricanes were also able to inch closer to Longmeadow in the overall standings, finishing just 16 points behind the Lancers, a gap that they’ll try to close even further at next week’s states meet.
Similarly, the boys team leaned heavily on their pack-running strategy to earn their fifth place finish and qualify for next week’s meet.
“We’re a pack team this year, which is what we need to be because we don’t have a front runner at the moment, although I think we’ve got young guys who are going to develop in that direction. They were all pretty close together,” said Amherst boys head coach Chris Gould.
Like the girls side, the Amherst boys are also a younger team, with just two seniors in their top seven runners. It was sophomore David Pinero-Jacome who finished first for the Hurricanes in 17:33, crossing the line in the 21st overall spot. His teammates were less than 15 seconds behind him, as sophomore Kyle Yanko (28th, 17:46), junior Diego Lopez (29th, 17:46), and senior Ben Buffone (31st, 17:49) all finished within three seconds of each other.
“In a race like this, it’s gonna make or break us next week, too, because all the points are right in there, pretty much,” Gould said. “So if they have a good day, we’re gonna do a lot better (than) on paper.”
For the first time since 2002, a boys cross-country team from Belchertown will be making an appearance at states.
That’s thanks in part to a strong performance by their top runner, Evan Harrington, who placed 11th overall in the Division 2C race with a time of 17:32. Teammates Trevor Adamson (31st, 18:10) and Brandon Adamson (38th, 18:35) rounded out the Orioles top three and helped the squad earn their spot at states.
Orioles head coach Bill Wheeler orchestrated his team’s state qualification with some race strategy, using last week’s PVIAC championships as a jumping off point for sectionals this week.
“All year we knew with this new format that it was going to be tight for us to make states as a team,” Wheeler said. “So we were kind of using PVIAC to try out some race strategy, but still try to get a quality week of work leading up to PVIAC so that we could take the week before sectionals off a little bit easier and try to really taper for today.”
That paid dividends for them at Saturday’s meet, finishing sixth as a team with 199 points, edging out seventh place Austin Prep by a mere two points. Wheeler told his team beforehand to treat this race as if it was their final race of the season, and to put all their eggs in this proverbial basket.
“I think today they kind of went in with a little chip on their shoulder. (I think) they kind of felt like they had something to prove for all of Western Mass. – like we belong here too,” Wheeler said. “They improved their mental toughness, they improved their strength throughout the year. That’s what got them qualified for states.”
Hampshire Regional’s Gulian Marconi and Sylvie Mahon-Moore both cracked the top 10 in their respective Division 3B sectional races and help the Raider girls and boys qualify for the state meet.
Mahon-Moore finished ninth overall with a time of 20:29, while Marconi crossed the line in 17:03, earning seventh place overall.
On the girls side, Frontier also qualified in the Division 2B race; Hampshire took second with 88 points, Frontier earned the third place finish with 133 points, edging out both Littleton (135 points) and Gardner (139 points). Easthampton placed 16th overall.
Just behind Mahon-Moore was Frontier’s Leah Gump, who finished 14th in 20:52. Other notable individual finishes were Hampshire’s Ellia Masenior (15th, 20:58) and Keegan Butler (18th, 21:15).
Hampshire was the lone team qualifiers in the boys 3B race. Jeffrey Fish also broke the top 20, crossing the line in 20th place with a time of 17:36. Frontier placed ninth as a team in the boys 2B race, while Easthampton placed 20th overall.
PVCICS and Gateway raced in both of the Division 3C races, as did the Granby boys team. PVCICS runners Odin Moore (10th, 17:14) and Sarah Fardal (17th, 21:30) both placed in the top 20 in their respective races. PVCICS claimed 11th in both the boys and girls races, while Gateway placed 12th in the 3C girls race and 18th in the boys contest.
Division 2A results (Amherst):
Girls: Tamar Byl-Brann, 5th, 20:29; April Schilling, 15th, 21:14; Elizabeth Sawicki, 28th, 22:13; Amrita Rutter, 30th, 22:22; Julia Edgerly, 34th, 22:44; Ava Zimmerman, 50th, 23:43; Marisol Bonifaz, 54th, 23:52.
Boys: David Pinero-Jacome, 21st, 17:33; Kyle Yanko, 28th, 17:46; Diego Lopez, 29th, 17:46; Ben Buffone, 31st, 17:49; Ryan Yanko, 44th, 18:08; Aidan Bergeron, 47th, 18:11; Spencer Waite, 64th, 19:00.
Division 2B results (Northampton):
Girls: Lily Shimpach, 34th, 21:39; Esme Marini-Rapoport, 38th, 21:50; Norah Reade, 40th, 21:51; Maeve O’Neil, 45th, 22:o7; Elizabeth McDonough, 70th, 23:00; Taylor Lynch, 99th, 24:10.
Boys: Riley Cole, 1st, 16:19; Theodore King-Pollet, 14th, 17:38; Jude Mourad, 17th, 17:43; Davis Wheat, 25th, 18:05; Cal Cote-Lheureux, 36th, 18:31; Benjamin Correard, 38th, 18:33; Lucien Vaget, 43rd, 18:37.
Division 2C results (Belchertown):
Girls: Molly Bail, 58th, 22:48; Allison Morris, 62nd, 22:53; Natalie Shaw, 88th, 24:24; Cameron Ting, 96th, 24:44; Megan Watts, 11oth, 25:23.
Boys: Evan Harrington, 11th, 17:32; Trevor Adamson, 31st, 18:10; Brandon Adamson, 38th, 18:35; Derek Gould, 59th, 19:11; Nicholas Rivers, 60th, 19:12; Carter Masse, 69th, 19:25; Samuel Hunt, 77th, 19:33.
Division 3B results (Hampshire, Frontier, Easthampton):
Hampshire girls: Sylvie Mahon-Moore, 9th, 20:29; Ellia Masenior, 15th, 20:58; Keegan Butler, 18th, 21:15; Sicily Chase, 27th, 21:34; Anna Dunlap, 30th, 21:47; Ellie Meunier, 40th, 22:20; Katie Shallcross, 65th 23:14.
Hampshire Boys: Gulian Marconi, 7th, 17:03; Jeffrey Fish, 20th, 17:36; Dillon Neveu, 23rd, 17:46; Evan Coltman, 31st, 18:09; Gavin DaFonte, 33rd, 18:12; Nick Brisson, 34th, 18:16.
Frontier girls: Leah Gump, 14th, 20:52; Leilini Markley, 26th, 21:34; Abigail Howard, 29th, 21:42; Sadie Ross, 32nd, 21:56; Sylvie DiBartolomeo, 33rd, 21:58; Nicole Plasse, 36th, 22:11; Sasha Malo, 48th, 22:38.
Frontier boys: Luke Howard, 24th, 17:46; Patrick Boyden, 43rd, 18:37; Erich Brown, 52nd, 19:03; Amory Maxey, 68th, 19:25; Evan Hedlund, 80th, 19:54; Pax Stark, 101st, 21:02; Oliver Brown, 139th, 24:39.
Easthampton girls: Brooke Bongiovanni, 78th, 24:27; Marley Reardon, 89th, 25:42; Brianna Sullivan, 106th, 28:12; Julianne Markee, 109th, 28:51; Cindel Melanson, 112th, 30:44; Molly Marsh, 115th, 33:57.
Easthampton boys: Leverett Horrigan, 84th, 20:05; Gianni Soucy, 95th, 20:43; Braden Lynn, 122nd, 22:37; James Aquino, 135th, 23:50; Michael Massa, 144th, 25:36.
Division 3C (PVCICS, Gateway, Granby)
PVCICS girls: Sarah Fardal, 17th, 21:30; Isla Salus, 69th, 24:34; Ada Nystrom, 72nd, 24:37; Mahri Hayden, 81st, 25:05; Nina Drummond, 95th, 26:21; Biya Chaudhry, 103rd, 26:57; Jaime Liu, 105th, 27:50.
PVCICS boys: Odin Moore, 10th, 17:14; Kyan Frantz, 26th, 18:11; Grafton Tolopko, 78th, 20:02; Owen Bauman, 82nd, 20:06; Nathaniel Tuttle, 84th, 20:12; Gaius Turner, 88th, 20:16; Frank Sup, 11oth, 21:42.
Gateway girls: Alexandra Henrichon, 31st, 22:18; Anya Niles, 56th, 23:43; Lucy Pitoniak, 75th, 24:46; Sawyer Wilkinson, 86th, 25:27; Kaitlyn Maynard, 92nd, 26:00; Ashley Tacke, 109th, 28:17; Abby Robbins, 113th, 29:05.
Gateway boys: Dominic Zajko, 32nd, 18:25; Jacob Maynard, 90th, 20:24; Logan Hawley, 137th, 24:29; Jesse Balboni, 142nd, 25:03; Jeffrey Antonellis, 143rd, 25:04; Connor Hourihan, 147th, 26:07; Elijah Gilbert, 152nd, 27:51.
Granby boys: Nolan Hall, 50th, 18:54; Braeden Gallagher, 64th, 19:24; Brady Pete, 76th, 19:56; Nathan Hutchinson, 86th, 20:13; Nathan Benson, 89th, 20:23; Griffin Funk, 93rd, 20:28, Robert Walsh, 96th, 20:56.