The top cross country runners in Massachusetts flocked to Fort Devens on Saturday for six 5,000 meter races on one of the best courses the Bay State had to offer.
Both individual and team qualifiers from last week’s state meets advanced to the MIAA’s Meet of Champions, with the nine divisions from last week folded into three races for Divisions 1, 2 and 3 (boys and girls). There were plenty of strong showings from the North Shore region’s runners.
The region’s best individual finish of the day went to Hamilton-Wenham’s Grace Rich with her fourth place showing (19:06) in the Division 3 girls race. The Generals were seventh in the team standings as Asa Labell also claimed a top 10 showing in ninth place (19:44) while freshman Talia Labell was 24th in 20:21.
Senior Marrietta O’Connell of Marblehead authored one of the region’s top individual finishes, coming in ninth in the Division 2 girls race in 19:12. She helped lead the Magicians to a seventh place showing as a team, with Sarah Munroe placing 13th (19:22) and Norah Walsh running a 20:58.
Swampscott’s emerging star Anabelle Averett was 12th overall in the Division 2 girls race with an excellent time of 19:22.
Bishop Fenwick’s girls were 9th in the final D2 standings led by Marianna Kay’s 18th place in a personal best time of 19:39. Addie Sweatman ran 20:26 for 34th place and Olivia Rowe’s time was 20:59.
Also in the D2 girls race, Danvers qualified as a team and competed well. Grace Conklin led the Falcons with a 24th place finish and a personal best time of 19:55.
From Essex Tech, Emily Waters placed 26th in the D2 girls race at 20:36.
Marblehead’s boys were eighth in the Division 2 race, paced by Henrik Adams in 31st place (16:58) as well as Will Cruikshank in 35th (17:05). Filip Grubor also clocked in at 17:26.
Masconomet turned in its best-ever team finish in the Division 2 boys meet, coming in ninth. Alexander Hamlin ran 16:25, good for 25th overall, and Conall Strangman placed 58th in 17:21 with Owen Walsh running a 17:38. The top Chieftains’ girl was freshman Abigail Williams in a personal best time of 21:11.
Simon Brown of Swampscott placed 31st among D2 boys in 16:59 while teammate Anthony Colella ran 17:17.
In the Division 3 boys race, Hamilton-Wenham placed sixth as a team. The top individual runner for the Generals was Cole Regan in 19th place (16:49) while Seth Glidden ran 17:10 and Ryan Regan came in at 17:35.
Ipswich’s Ryan Jones qualified as an individual and ran 18:12 in his first season of cross country.
In Division 1 boys action, St. John’s Prep used its depth to place with Jack McIntosh’s 20th place time of 16:15 being the best run by a local individual on the day. Leo Seltenrich (16:37) and Liam Mahoney were next across for the Eagles.
Beverly’s Jason Provost wasn’t far off the top individual time by a North Shore runner. After qualifying as an individual, Provost ran 16:18 for 23rd in a loaded Division 1 field of 188 harriers. Panther teammate Charlie Bossler also ran a solid time of 16:33.
In the Division 1 girls race, individual qualifiers Lauren Foley and Ella Braz of Peabody both ran well. Each sophomores, Foley ran a season best time of 20:59 and Braz clocked a 20:17.