A successful qualifying meet saw Hampshire Regional, Northampton and Amherst qualify both their boys and girls teams to the MIAA state championship meet, while the Belchertown boys and Frontier girls both earned team qualifying berths. Add in a number of individuals who placed high enough to advance, and the Pioneer Valley is set for an exciting state meet.
The MIAA Cross Country Championships are scheduled to be run at the Wrentham Developmental Center on Saturday. The terrain boasts a fast and flat course, ideal for personal bests and strong finishes across the board.
Here’s who to watch heading into the final cross-country meet of the 2021 season:
In the Division 2 race, two individuals expected to shine are Northampton’s Riley Cole and Amherst’s Tamar Byl-Brann, who both finished in the top five of their respective races last weekend.
Cole enters Saturday’s race with the fastest overall time across all three Division 2 races from last weekend (16 minutes, 19 seconds), making him among the favorites to take home a state title. There’s a bit of an added incentive to winning this weekend’s race, as Cole will be going head-to-head against Nashoba’s Freddy Collins, the runner who edged out Cole and won the All-States title in the 1,600 meter run during the outdoor track season last spring. Collins won the 2A race last weekend with a time of 16:20, just a second behind Cole’s time.
Tamar Byl-Brann seems to be finding her stride for the Hurricanes as well, finishing fifth in the 2A race with a time of 20:29, just six seconds behind Longmeadow’s Ada Grant who she ran with most of the way. Byl-Brann’s time was the 19th fastest time amongst all Division 2 girls’ runners, giving the junior a strong shot at earning a medalist as one of the top 15 finishers at the state meet.
Both the Northampton boys and Amherst girls will be looking to finish well in the team competition, with strong depth on both sides expected to complement their top runners. Northampton had two other boys finish in the top 20 last week, with Theodore King-Pollet (17:38) and Jude Mourad (17:43) finishing 14th and 17th, respectively. Davis Wheat (18:05) was not far behind in 25th.
Amherst will rely on April Schilling, the Hurricanes’ other medalist last weekend, who placed 15th with a time of 21:14, along with the pack running of trio Elizabeth Sawicki (28th, 22:13), Amrita Rutter (30th, 22:22), and Julia Edgerly (34th, 22:44).
Also worth watching: the pack running of Amherst’s boys team. Leader David Pinero-Jacome (21st, 17:33) set the tone while Kyle Yanko (28th, 17:46), Diego Lopez (29th, 17:46) and Ben Buffone (31st, 17:49) all finished within three seconds of each other last weekend.
Tying Pinero-Jacome’s time in the 2C race was Evan Harrington of Belchertown, who placed 11th overall in 17:33 and helped the Orioles clinch their first state qualifying berth as a team in nearly two decades.
Northampton’s Lily Shimpach also helped the girls team sneak into states with a finish of 21:39, good for 34th place last week.
Over in the Division 3 meet, another local runner that matched Byl-Brann’s time was Sylvie Mahon-Moore of Hampshire Regional, who finished ninth overall in the Division 3B race with a 20:29. Mahon-Moore also has a good chance at locking up a medal, as does her team – Hampshire finished second overall in the Division 3B race with 88 points and finished with the fourth-fastest team time (1:46:03) across all of the Division 3 races thanks to other top-20 finishes from teammates Ellia Masenior (15th, 20:58) and Keegan Butler (18th, 21:15).
The Frontier girls’ team, led by Leah Gump who placed 14th overall in the 3B race, should be close behind. Frontier finished third in the 3B race with 130 points, amassing the 7th fastest team time (1:48:39).
On the boys side, Hampshire’s Gulian Marconi could medal as an individual, finishing seventh in the boys 3B race with a time of 17:03. His team has a chance to finish well as a group; their top six runners all finished in the top 35 of their race, with Jeffrey Fish (20th, 17:36) and Dillon Neveu (23rd, 17:46) both cracking the top 25.
A number of individuals who will toe the line Saturday could place on their own merits. PVCICS is sending three runners – Sarah Fardal, who ran a 21:30 in her race last week, as well as Odin Moore (10th, 17:14) and Kyan Frantz (26th, 18:11) – to compete in the Division 3 race. Luke Howard will also represent the Frontier boys, placing 24th overall with a time of 17:46 last weekend to earn a spot at the state meet. Both Hopkins Academy’s Caprial DiBartolomeo (24th, 22:00) and Gateway’s Alexandra Henrichon (31st, 22:18) will also be racing in Division 3 this Saturday, with Gateway’s Dominic Zajko to run on the boys side.
Here’s a full list of the runners:
Boys starting time: 11:30 in Wrentham
Girls starting time: 12:15 in Wrentham
Amherst: Aidan Bergeron, Ben Buffone, Diego Lopez, David Pinero-Jacome, Spencer Waite, Kyle Yanko, Ryan Yanko, Marisol Bonifaz, Tamar Byl-Brann, Julia Edgerly, Amrita Rutter, Elizabeth Sawicki, April Schilling, Ava Zimmerman
Belchertown: Trevor Adamson, Brandon Adamson, Derek Gould, Evan Harrington, Samuel Hunt, Carter Masse, Nicholas Rivers
Northampton: Riley Cole, Benjamin Correard, Calvin Cote-LHeureux, Theodore King-Pollet, Jude Mourad, Lucien Vaget, Davis Wheat, Kaz Andrews, Taylor Lynch, Esmé Marini-Rapoport, Elizabeth McDonough, Maeve O’Neil, Norah Reade, Lily Shimpach
Boys starting time: 1:00 in Wrentham
Girls starting time: 1:45 in Wrentham
Frontier: Leah Gump, Abigail Howard, Sylvie DiBartolomeo, Sasha Malo, Nicole Plasse, Sadie Ross, Ayla Starr, Luke Howard (individual)
Gateway: Dominic Zajko (individual), Alexandra Henrichon (individual)
Hampshire: Nick Brisson, Evan Coltman, Gavin Dafonte, Jeffrey Fish, Gulian Marconi, Dillon Neveu, Keegan Butler, Sicily Chase, Anna Dunlap, Sylvie Mahon-Moore, Ellia Masenior, Ellie Meunier, Katie Shallcross
Hopkins Academy: Caprial DiBartolomeo (individual)
PVCICS: Kyan Frantz (individual), Odin Moore (individual), Sarah Fardal (individual)