WMass cross country: Amherst, Hampshire girls win team titles at Stanley Park

WESTFIELD — Inclusivity, high performance, and curiosity. Those are the three tenets of Amherst girls cross country’s “culture triangle”.

As the Hurricanes raised their fifth straight Western Mass. Class A title at Stanley Park in Westfield on Saturday, every member of the team flashed a triangle with their hands, serving as a reminder that the race was not won by one or two runners, but rather the entire team.

“Our goal was to just come here and support each other and work hard,” Amherst junior Marit MacDonald said. “We’ve been doing great at that the whole season. So today was just another example of our team strength and our reliance on each other.”

MacDonald got a taste of curiosity when she found herself in third place during the final stretch of the race. While she had plenty of success this fall, her previous races at Stanley were not her best.

“It was a happy shock,” MacDonald said “There wasn’t really anyone around me. I focused on the fact that I knew what I was capable of and trusted my training, knowing that could propel me to the finish line.”

The junior held her position, coming in third at 19:12.8. She was the first of three consecutive Hurricanes runners to complete the race.

All five of Amherst’s runners came in the top-10, helping squeak out an eight point victory over rival and runner-up Northampton. Both teams ran impressive races as 11 of the 13 top runners came from the two squads.

Behind MacDonald, junior Genevieve Dole arrived in fourth with a time of 19:27, and senior Quynh Ly completed the trio by taking fifth at 19:31.3.

“They push each other every day,” Amherst coach Ron Jacobs said. “Once we got to the postseason, they aren’t running for themselves anymore. They are running for the team.”

Rounding out the team’s scoring were seniors Ella Austin in ninth at 19:58.4 and Anoushka Sen at 20:08.4.

While the Blue Devils just missed out on the team title, senior Mairead O’Neil won the Western Mass. race for the second straight year. She was the only runner to finish under 19 minutes, taking the title with a time of 18:12.8.

While she could see the finish line across the field, the final stretch felt like ages as she had a sizable gap between her and the rest of the runners.

“This last half miles feels so long because it’s open and flat. It was definitely hard,” O’Neil said. “I knew I had some distance between the next girls so I just kept pushing.”

Northampton got contributions across its top five to give Amherst a run for its money.

Juniors Mia Levy (sixth, 19:46.4) and Zea Meerbergen (seventh, 19:52.4) finished back-to-back in the top-10 to break apart Amherst’s five runners.

Sophomore Rosalind Stracco placed 10th at 20:09 and junior Maya Zink set a personal-best with a time of 20:30.8 to come in 13th.

“Our girls did really well today,” O’Neil said. “They all did what they were supposed to do. I’m really proud of them. They have a lot of potential next year. There’s still so much depth on the team.”

Amherst settles for second, Northampton takes third in Class A boys race

On Thursday, Amherst sophomore Otis Fairey told his coach Chris Gould that he thought the Hurricanes could get three runner to crack sub-16 minutes.

“I’m like, ‘Okay let’s go try and do it then,'” Gould said. “And sure enough they did it.”

In what was a competitive boys race that had eight runners finish under 16 minutes, the Hurricanes top trio ensured the team finished in second, 29 points behind champion Longmeadow.

Last year’s winner, senior Calvin Miller, led the Hurricanes with a time of 15:42. Though it was two seconds better than last year’s winning time, the tough competition pushed him to fourth place.

Senior Peter Nedeau set a personal-best 15:53.3 to come in seventh. Fairey made good on his word by coming in eighth at 15:58.2, also a personal-best.

“At 200 meters, I urgently told a few people I need those three and they just went for it,” Gould said. “They can’t always do it, but they were living in the moment. I think they felt accountable to each other.”

Junior Alhassan Abdel-Maksoud (21st, 16:57.9) and sophomore Jeremiah Hayslip (24th, 17:04.7) also set personal bests to round out the scoring for the Hurricanes.

Much like the girls race, Northampton was right on Amherst’s heels. The Blue Devils came in third, just nine points behind the Hurricanes.

Senior Henry Daggett (ninth) and junior Shea O’Neill (tenth) led the Blue Devils by arriving with 0.6 seconds of each other (16:01 and 16:01.6). Both were personal bests.

Owen Daggett also set a personal best with a time of 16:19 to come in 13th place.

Seniors Charlie Sidoti (18th, 16:46.1) and Gus Frey (23rd, 17:04.4) rounded out the scoring for the Blue Devils.

Hampshire girls claim Class B supremecy at last

In the first race of the day, Hampshire saw five girls finish in the top-12 to eke out the win over Mt. Greylock by 10 points.

Hampshire senior Kathleen Barry took the individual title thanks to a time of 18:51.1. Her teammates, juniors Brooke Hockenberry and Charlotte Niswonger, took fourth and fifth with sub-20 minute times. Junior Ada Corner sealed tenth place by clocking in at 20:05.7.

The Raiders got a big boost from eighth grader Tula Marino who scored for the team by coming at 20:09.8 for 12th.

Hampshire’s team victory counted as its first-ever WMass championship.

PVCICS represented Hampshire County well by taking third place. Eighth grader Violet Lukens ran 19:30.6 that put her among the upperclassmen in sixth place. Sophomore Ellery Maier (18th, 20:56.2) and Adelaide Amias (20th, 21:06.3) both grabbed top-20 times. The Dragons first five runners finished in the top-30.

Easthampton grabbed ninth place in the team competition. Sophomore Gwen Banz led the team with a time of 21:35.7 and took 24th place. Freshman Sabine Ritchie gave the Eagles a top-50 run, coming in at 48th in 22:40.9.

Belchertown arrived in 13th. Junior Serena Jones ran a team-best 23:12.6.

Trevor Sullivan secures Class B crown, local teams finish in top-5

South Hadley native and Granby runner Trevor Sullivan blew out the field with a winning time of 15:16.8. The sophomore took the title by a wide margin of 22 seconds. His time is the fourth-fastest among Massachusetts high school runners this fall.

Four teams from Hampshire County placed in the top-10. Hampshire led the area schools with third place. All seven Raiders runner scored in the top-30.

Senior Owen Cubi (10th, 16:29.9) and junior Hobbes O’Sullivan (11th, 16:31.1) gave Hampshire sub-17 minute races. A trio seniors of Aidan Conklin (19th, 17:18.4), Ben Zajac (22nd, 17:19.9), and Sam Plumer (26th, 17:43.7) rounded out the scoring for the Raiders.

Belchertown sophomore Asher Johnson-Jones ran a personal-best of 16:29.8 to grab ninth to lead Belchertown to third place. Cian Lindsay provided a top-25 race with a time of 17:30.7.

The Dragons finished in fourth thanks in large part to an excellent run by senior Grafton Tolopko. He crossed the line at 16:17.4 to take sixth place and singificant help cut down on PVCICS’s score.

Easthampton finished in the middle of the pack in eighth. The Eagles were led by sophomore Finley Foster who ran at 17:59.5.