Northampton boys sixth at state cross country
1
GARDNER - The Northampton boys cross country team entered the state Division 1 championship meet Saturday with a shot at the top prize.
But the strength of the field kept the Blue Devils from claiming it.
Northampton finished sixth with score of 164 at Gardner Municipal Golf Course. Brookline won the championship with a score of 114.
"It was a tough day, tough course," Blue Devils senior Harrison Hunter said. "It was really cold but it was the best performance as a team ever, so you have to be happy with that."
Lowell was second (131) followed by Oliver Ames (144) and Whitman-Hanson (148). St. John's of Shrewsbury was fifth with the same score as Northampton and won the tiebreaker.
"We came in almost dead last last year and to tie for fifth, we put it all out there today," Blue Devils senior Ian Lutz said. "It was disappointing because we knew we had the potential to get first but we improved so much."
John Murray of Shrewsbury placed first in 14 minutes, four seconds on the 2.9-mile course. Hunter finished 23rd in 14:56. Lutz was 28th in 14:58.
Northampton used its pack to dominate the Western Massachusetts Division 1 meet, but at the state meet that did not work as well.
"At western Mass. we had our group with maybe four or five guys around us," Hunter said. "Here we had 40 or 50 guys around us. It's difficult. You got so many more people right at your level. Being 10 seconds faster or slower is a difference of 20 spots."
Alex Sullivan (15:15) was 17 seconds slower than Lutz and placed 52nd, 24 spots back. Sam Shanky finished in 15:32 but was 77th. Sam Coates-Finke (15:39) was 87th to round out the top five for the Blue Devils.
"You have to get out fast and be able to recover from that and still get into your group," Northampton coach Ross Krause said. "The guys actually did pretty good with that. They couldn't get that tight, tight group together, but in a race like this where there are 50 guys around you, I'm still happy with the way they ran."
Amherst Regional finished 14th and was led by James Traester who finished 84th in 15:36. Dylan Wight (90th, 15:42), Jesse Coull (95th, 15:46), Ian Davies (96th, 15:46) and Nick Benfey (116th, 15:54) scored for Amherst.
Girls Division 1
It was a different week which meant a different runner finished first for Northampton. Mia Toffoli placed 61st in 18:34 to lead the Blue Devils (275) to an 11th-place finish.
Eliana Zimmerman was first for Northampton at the PVIAC Championship while Haley Milsark was first at the western Massachusetts meet.
"We're each strong enough to finish first one week and another one to finish first another week," Toffoli said. "It's not just one of us, it's all of us."
Weymouth (92) won, followed by Wachusett (111) and Wellesley (138).
Andrea Keklak of Lincoln-Sudbury was first overall in 16:37.
Emma West (18:43) placed 71st for Northampton while Milsark was 86th in 18:54. Ruth Howe finished 96th in 19:03. Joni Sullivan was 112th in 19:18 to round out the top five.
"The girls ran really well," Blue Devils coach Nate Kraft said. "They ran well as a team. We were grouped up about as well as you can be at a state meet. We spread out a little toward the end, but early on we were really a solid pack through most of the race."
Amherst Regional (392) was 17th and was led by Emily Zimmerman, who was 45th in 18:20. Audrey Gould (92nd, 18:58), Katy O'Brien (140th, 19:50), Siobhan O'Brien (148th, 19:57) and Rachel O'Brien (151st, 20:02) scored for the Hurricanes.
Madison Granger was 59th in 18:31 to pace Belchertown (400), which finished 19th. Taylor Lewis (70th, 18:42), Savannah Bernardin (103rd, 19:10), Devyn Hebert (170th, 20:49) and Rachel Lehouillier (176th, 21:29) scored for the Orioles.
South Hadley 8th-grader Caroline Sullivan was 47th in 18:21.
Division 2
Natalie Mako of Frontier Regional finished 25th in 18:08 in the Division 2 girls race.
"I was a little tired but the adrenaline kicked in," Mako said. "It was good."
Mako's teammate Amy Graham was 89th in 10:12.
Holyoke Catholic placed 17th with a score of 403. Jenn Cardinal was 47th in 18:32 to pace the Gaels. Sarah Jones (120th, 19:50), Audrey Borski (143rd, 20:33), Abby Poirier (149th, 20:44) and Sarah Dingee (151st, 20:53) scored for the Gaels.
Hampshire Regional had three individuals compete. Brittany Dalton was 60th in 18:42, Julie Roberts placed 85th in 19:05 and Ryan Thornhill finished 105th in 16:13 in the boys race. Caleb Chapley of Frontier was 115th in 16:21.
Abigail Imelio of Granby placed 88th in 19:10.
Wesley Gallagher of Pembroke won the boys race in 14:21. Gallagher edged Dana Dourdeville (14:21) of Old Rochester by a nose.
Pembroke (35) also won the team title.
Viviana Hanley of Bishop Feehan won the girls race in 16:28. Bishop Feehan (61) also won the team championship.
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com.
