LAWRENCE – Having the best runner in the conference, and being on its own very difficult course with numerous hills, Central Catholic thought it had a leg up on league rivals Billerica and Andover in Wednesday’s Merrimack Valley Conference girls cross country showdown.
But the legs of the Billerica pack proved to be too strong for the Raiders. The Indians featured five underclassmen with three sophomores and two freshmen, who finished second, and then fourth through seventh, which proved to be the difference in the sweep over Central Catholic (23-32) and Andover (15-50) to capture the MVC regular season championship.
Billerica ends the regular season at 10-0 and with its sixth title since 2014. Central Catholic finishes 9-1 and Andover ends at 7-3.
“We had a lot of really good performances, but we just didn’t do enough in the front to break up their pack,” said Central head coach Colette Madore. “We really did go head-to-head with them. We thought we could beat Andover, but head-to-head with Billerica (was tough). It was really good competition and they were the better team today.”
Right from the get-go, Central freshman Kyla Breslin took the lead. She never looked back – even going up the small hills, the giant hills and then looping around to do it all over again in the second half of the 2.95 mile trek. She came in with a time of 18:59 to complete her undefeated regular season mark. Her time was also 12 seconds better than Billerica sophomore Gianna McGowan, who is regarded as one of the premier distance runners in the state.
“Gianna was pushing me, so it was definitely a good, tough race against some very talented girls,” said Breslin, who was battling a cold. “I knew that I had the advantage running on the home course, but I just made sure that I attacked those hills. I like to go out fast and hold it. That’s my strategy especially on this course.”
Finishing behind Breslin were Madeline Courtemanche (3rd, 19:21), Lila Christy (8th, 20:43), Rachel Asasira (12th, 21:12) and Calisa King (13th, 21:15).
Andover’s top finishers were Rose Kiley (11th, 21:02), Kendall Sintros (15th, 22:07), Mollie Bedard (18th, 22:45), Isabelle Marquis (20th, 22:52) and Taylor Callanan (26th, 24:12).
Westaway wins boys race
Central Catholic senior Ethan Westaway had one thought heading into the tri-meet: break the course record of 16:17. He fell short, but still delivered a terrific performance coming in first in 16:30.
“This is my last race here so I was really going out for it. I wanted the course record and I came really close to it last time,” said Westaway. “I thought I could do it and thought I could attack these hills better than anyone else because I’m so used to them. I just knew that I had to go for it. I was on pace through the first two miles and then that hill back there (on the final mile) just (really tough).”
Central dropped both meets, losing to Billerica 23-32 and Andover, 22-24, to finish 5-5. Andover was edged out by Billerica, 26-29 to finish 6-4.
Coming in after Westaway included Noah Ruggiero (9th, 17:36), Wesley Otero (12th, 18:25), Acelin Iannalfo (13th, 18:31) and Zachary Weller (16th, 18:40).
All of the MVC teams will be off until the league championship meet which will be held on Saturday. October 25th in Dracut.
Twitter: @JamiePote