Reign goes on for Hurricane girls
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NORTHFIELD - Before Saturday's Western Massachusetts cross country championships, Amherst Regional retired girls coach Art Keene walked through the sopping-wet grass, felt the cold rain, and commented, "We always say bad weather conditions favor the underdog."
Tacitly acknowledging that with 14 consecutive western Massachusetts titles to their credit, the Hurricane girls have not been underdogs since sometime in the previous millennium, he added, "Or else we say they favor the team with the most experience."
Eric Nazar, who took over from Keene as the Amherst girls coach this season, put it more succinctly: "When I saw the weather forecast for today, with rain, I said, #Great! We're all set.' "
Evidently he was right. None of the Hurricanes seemed to think that defending a 14-year streak was any reason to feel pressure, and nobody was much bothered by the weather. When the Division 1 girls race was concluded, Amherst had collected its 15th straight title with 58 points, ahead of Longmeadow (92) and Northampton (114).
"The conditions were different, and they played into the race," remarked senior Leah Haake, the Hurricanes' top runner who placed third. "The mud # mentally it can throw you off."
But not if you run for Amherst.
"Eric reminded us that there'd be a lot of competition, and not to take anything for granted," she added. "And we worked on pushing the middle mile."
Having finished third in this same meet a year ago, Haake duplicated that performance on Saturday. She ran the first half of the race in a small lead pack that included Carolyn Stocker of Westfield, a junior who had won every race she ran this year and who was the unquestioned favorite.
Late in the second mile, as Stocker was smoothly pulling away from the rest of the field, Haake was one of several runners who slipped on a muddy, leaf-covered downhill stretch.
Twisting one ankle noticeably, Haake recovered and pounded over the damp grass of the final mile, clocking 20 minutes, 16 seconds for the 5-kilometer course, 15 seconds behind sophomore Camile Blackman of Longmeadow and less than a minute behind Stocker, who won in 19:33.
Close behind Haake were teammates Chloe Zimmerman, who finished seventh in 20:55, and Audrey Gould (8th, 21:00), another runner who fell during the race.
Having put three runners in the top 10, the Hurricanes sealed the victory with three more in the top 25 - Siobhan O'Brien (18th, 21:58), Victoria Dunch (22nd, 22:24) and Louise Fega (23rd, 22:39).
"In terms of positive mental attitude," said Nazar, "this team is better than any other team I've ever been with, either as runner or as coach."
The Amherst, Longmeadow and Northampton girls teams all qualified for the state meet next Saturday, also at Northfield.
It is only the second time that the Blue Devils qualified as a team for the state championships, with the other in 2007.
"Last year we may not have shown our best effort," said Northampton coach Nate Kraft, referring to the Blue Devils' fifth-place finish in 2008 after a third-place performance in 2007. "This year we fought for every place, and whether we got to the state (championship meet) or not, I'm pleased with what we did today."
Northampton's first finisher was senior Julia Sullivan, who placed 9th in 21:06. Northampton's next four runners # Nora Letendre (21st, 22:18), Haley Milsark (26th, 22:46), Eliana Zimmerman (27th, 22:50) and Emma Larson (31st, 23:01) - were packed within 11 places of each other.
Only the Hurricanes got their fifth runner across the line ahead of Larson.
"We really work as a team," said Letendre. "You put it all out there so you won't regret it at the end."
Three Belchertown runners qualified for the state championships next Saturday - Madison Granger (sixth, 20:47), Taylor Lewis (13th, 21:17) and Savannah Bernardin (14th, 21:42).
The Orioles finished seventh as a team with 181 points.
The other local qualifier for the state meet was Clare Nelson of South Hadley, who finished 10th (21:14) and led the Tigers to ninth place (270 points) among the 18 teams.
Division 2 girls
The girls Division 2 race was a display of stamina, speed, balance and confidence on the part of the runners from Mount Greylock, who recorded the lowest team score in any of the day's four races.
Taking three of the first four places and putting their other two scorers in the top 20, the Mounties had just 33 points and left Monson and Holyoke Catholic to battle for second. The Mustangs won that duel by a scant four points, 95 to 99.
Top finisher in the field of 121 runners was Mount Greylock sophomore Mackenzie Hitchcock in 20:46. Corinne Hillman of Monument Mountain was second in 20:58.
A year ago, the same three teams were up front, but in different order, when Kristen Veit led the Gaels to their first-ever western Massachusetts championship.
With Veit graduated, sophomore Staci Rezendes led Holyoke Catholic this year with a fifth-place finish in 21:18, followed by teammates Christina Powell (10th, 21:37), Erica Fisher (14th, 21:46), Rachael Wolff (32nd, 22:47), Brooke Lapointe (38th, 23:15).
"We were shooting for first # or maybe top three," said Fisher.
"I thought we'd do better, but we gave it all we had," added Powell,
The fourth- and fifth-place Division 2 teams were Hampshire Regional (121 points) and Frontier Regional (163), and both are remarkably young.
Natalie Mako, who placed first for the Red Hawks and sixth overall in 21:25, is a freshman.
So are Hampshire Regional's first two finishers - Lyndsey O'Conner (ninth, 21:36) and Brittany Dalton (13th, 21:45) - while the Red Raiders' number three runner was sophomore Julie Roberts (26th, 22:38), and their fourth finisher, Riley Lacaprucia (36th, 23:11), is just a 7th grader.
Frontier's other top four runners are freshman Amy Graham (28th, 22:40), 8th grader Mairead Ferry (34th, 23:05), junior Allison Piela (44th, 23:45) and 7th grader Allyson Hamelin (51st, 24:07).
Sophomore Abigail Imelio of Granby (33rd, 22:53) led her team to 11th in the team standings with 269 points, while freshman Katie Clark (42nd, 23:39) was the top runner for Gateway Regional (359 points) which placed 14th of 18 teams.
Mako, O'Conner and Dalton all qualified to run in the state championship next Saturday on the same course.
