Amherst Regional runners favorites at sectional championships
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The roles are reversed this postseason.
The Amherst Regional boys and girls cross country teams are the favorites at Saturday's western Massachusetts championships.
The boys and girls of defending champion Northampton are the underdogs.
The Northampton girls ended Amherst's 15-year reign in Division 1 last season with its first sectional championship. The Hurricanes are back in front this season and are seeking their 20th title since 1989.
"Northampton's going through what we went through last year," Amherst coach Eric Nazar said Wednesday. "When you're that thin and you're losing runners in the top five, there are only so many you can lose before you really start to feel it."
The Northampton boys also won its first title last year, when the meet was held at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield. Amherst won eight titles from 1999 to 2008. The Hurricanes are a slight favorite over Ludlow as the 5k meet returns to Northfield Mountain.
"We'll try to do our end of the bargain," said Amherst coach Chris Gould, after learning that Ludlow beat Amherst in the Western Massachusetts Division 1 Boys Soccer Tournament semifinal round Wednesday.
The girls Division 2 race starts at 11 a.m. and is followed by girls Division 1 at 11:40 a.m.
Amherst, which went 11-0 during the season, will be challenged by Longmeadow and Northampton. The Hurricanes won the PVIAC championship by 14 points over Longmeadow. Northampton was fourth in the all-division meet.
"To have the confidence, going undefeated in dual meets and wining PVIAC, that's the way it is supposed to work," Nazar said. "You build the momentum. Coming off last week, that was an outstanding meet. We want to see, 'Can we do better?'"
Amherst will be led by Audrey Gould, Emmy Zimmerman, Sara Vannah, Bess Hepner, Kate O'Brien, Lily Gould and Mel Devoney.
Northampton will be led by Eliana Zimmerman and Rebecca Coates-Finke, the Blue Devils' top two finishers at PVIAC.
Camille Blackman of Longmeadow is the defending individual champion. Madison Granger of Belchertown could give her a push.
"Something unexpected will happen," Nazar said. "How we adapt will tell the story."
The boys Division 2 race starts at 12:20 p.m. and is followed by the Division 1 race at 1.
Amherst's top seven - Dylan Wight, James Traester, Jesse Coull, Steven Kalt, Gabe Fishman, Ryan Mathers and Isaac Hare Steig - have run well all season, especially in the big meets.
"It's not a high-mileage team," Chris Gould said. "They really like doing fast stuff and they developed confidence in it and are able to apply it in the right ways and in races that matter. We've had pretty good luck in big meets so far."
Amherst beat Ludlow at the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina and at the Brown Invitational in Rhode Island. Ludlow won the dual meet match during the season and is led by Dan Crowley.
"Dan Crowley will probably change things," Gould said. "He's the highest quality runner out there right now. Besides that, we'll see what happens."
Northampton will be led by Sam Coates-Finke, Alexander Sullivan, Sam Shanky and Charles Hale.
Division 2
Natalie Mako of Frontier Regional, Staci Rezendes and Audrey Boraski of Holyoke Catholic, and Brittany Dalton and Julie Roberts of Hampshire Regional all have a shot at top finishes in the girls race.
Sam Powell of Holyoke Catholic, John Burton of Belchertown, and Ian Barber and Brandon Cross of Hampshire are the top local runners in the boys race.
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com.
