Maddie Granger of Belchertown runs to third at Amherst Invitational
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High School cross country teams across Massachusetts flocked to Hampshire College this past Saturday to face an early season test at the 16th annual Amherst Invitational 5K.
It was the events biggest field in history with 25 different schools ranging from New Hampshire to Connecticut as well as the Commonwealth.
Runners braved a shift to hot and humid conditions, causing some hospital visits.
The humid weather was dangerous for the runners, said Amherst boys coach Chris Gould. Everyone had to adjust.
The sticky weather didnt stop the event from being a success.
We took over the Hampshire College campus for a day, Said Gould It was a world class event.
Maddie Granger of Belchertown was the top local finisher at third overall. The senior finished the event in 19:32. Frontier Regionals Natalie Mako (19:54) just missed a top-ten finish at 11th overall.
Sam-Coates Finke (16:45) was the top local runner for the boys finishing 14th for Northampton.
Boys race
Northampton finished ninth with (244 points). Samuel Shanky (17:04) placed 23rd overall. Charles Hale (17:40) was the only other Blue Devil in the top 50, finishing 49th.
Host Amherst finished second with 148 points and had three runners in the top 25.
We didnt have a real front-runner. Gould said. Just a solid pack effort. We were happy to get second.
The Hurricanes top finisher Jesse Coull (21st overall) finished in 17:01. The Canes had two other runners in the top 25, Dylan Wight (17:04) and Steven Kalt (17:08) finished 24th and 25th respectively for Amherst.
Girls race
Northampton (431 points) finished 18th and didnt have a runner in the top 50. The Blue Devils top finisher was Eliana Zimmerman (21:56) at 57th overall.
Amherst placed seventh overall as a team (189 points). Senior Audrey Gould (20:01) led the Hurricanes, running to an 11th place finish. Junior Mel Devoney (20:49) was the next best finisher for the Hurricanes at 27th overall.
Audrey ran fast in the first mile, said Gould. She hung on under not perfect conditions.
Frontier (344 points) placed 14th
Hampshire Regionals Brittany Dalton (20:16) finished 18th.
