Advertisement
Breaking news:

Xander Schauffele cards 9-under 62 for PGA Championship record

Oliver Ames, Weymouth girls lead local hopes in Saturday's state cross country finals

eric mchugh, the patriot ledger
·4 min read

Saturday's MIAA cross country state championships will be a challenge. But for a number of local athletes, including the Oliver Ames and Weymouth girls teams, the plan is simple: Just keep doing what you're doing.

The Tigers and Wildcats both stood tall at last weekend's divisional championships in Gardner, with OA winning the Division 1C crown and Weymouth placing second in 1A. Other runners-up were BC High (1A boys) and Plymouth South (2A boys).

Saturday's state championships at Fort Devens will feature six races – Division 3 boys at 11 a.m.; Division 3 girls at 11:45 a.m.; Division 1 boys at 12:30 p.m.; Division 1 girls at 1:15 p.m.; Division 2 boys at 2 p.m.; and Division 2 girls at 2:45 p.m.

The Oliver Ames and Weymouth girls found success last week not only with their depth but with tremendous individual results. OA's Katie Sobieraj was runner-up in the 1C race, covering the 5K course in 18 minutes, 40.67 seconds; she trailed only Westfield's Megan Moran (18:36.21). Meanwhile, Weymouth's Gracie Richard was third in the 1A race in 18:49.97.

"Gracie was outstanding, losing that runner-up spot by a lean at the finish line," Weymouth coach Mike Miller said. "For a middle-distance kid to attack the hills of this course like she did proves how far she’s come and how much she’s matured. She’s an awesome leader for us."

OA squeezed its top six runners into the top 16 with Sobieraj followed by teammates Braelyn Graham (6th, 19:42.89), Hannah Dupill (7th, 19:49.97), Iole Apostoli (10th, 19:58.36), Annie Reilly (11th, 20:02.79) and Ashley Powers (16th, 20:25.34). The grouping led to an easy team win – the Tigers had 33 points; Central Catholic was a distant runner-up with 88.

Weymouth almost matched OA's team win, finishing three points behind Cambridge Rindge and Latin (111-114).

More: FOLLOW LIVE: Massachusetts high school football semifinal scores and highlights

"Obviously it’s tough to lose by three points," Miller said, "but I’m really proud of the way the kids ran. The last time we put three girls in the top 15 was 2014, and that team was fourth at All-States. We’d love to be able to improve on that result next week in Devens."

The Wildcats also had a solid grouping, with Richard followed by teammates Izzy Galusha (14th, 19:41.51), Kate Carnes (15th, 19:42.92), Leah Glavin (39th, 20:43.48) and Natalie McInnis (43rd, 20:51.34).

From left to right, Gracie Richard, Kate Carnes and Izzy Galusha helped the Weymouth High girls cross country team place second overall in the Div. 1A race at Gardner Golf Course.
From left to right, Gracie Richard, Kate Carnes and Izzy Galusha helped the Weymouth High girls cross country team place second overall in the Div. 1A race at Gardner Golf Course.

"I was proud of how smart we ran today," said Miller, who also saluted Mia Manfredi and Colleen Glavin for their work. "We probably could have been impatient and attacked too early, and who knows where we would end up. Now we walk away with a trophy, and totally intact for next week … the goals haven’t changed.

"Oliver Ames and Arlington look like the (Division 1) favorites on Saturday, but we know we can run better than we did at Gardner. We feel like the Devens course fits our style a little bit more than the hills of Gardner."

More: Canton survives five-set thriller against Algonquin to reach D-2 volleyball state final

Other highlights from last weekend:

  • BC High's Chris Larnard was the lone local to win a race, taking the 1A boys crown in 15:39.88. The senior from Scituate is the Eagles' first divisional champ since 1999. The University of Pennsylvania commit is "among the top three to five distance runners in the state," coach Seth Kirby said. Teammate John Wilson, from Norwell, was third in 15:55.08 (the best finish by an Eagles junior in more than 30 years) with Greg McGrath (9th, 16:16.59) and Shamus Larnard (16th, 16:32.31) also scoring.

  • Canton's Lauren Raffetto (18:23.9) was runner-up in the girls 2B race, helping the Bulldogs place fifth.

  • The Norwell boys were third in Division 3A, led by Thomas Corbett (2nd, 16:53.77) and Jack Twombly (12th, 17:55.90).

  • West Bridgewater's Ella Dunbury was second in the girls 3C race in 19:20.47.

  • East Bridgewater's Ezra Blasko was third in the boys 3A race in 17:03.23, helping EB place sixth overall.

  • In the girls 1B race, Quincy/North Quincy's Salma Boukhtam (19:29.04) and Aluna Coogan-Coyne (19:30.29) finished 4-5.

  • Plymouth South's Noah Brilliant was fourth in the boys 2A race in Wrentham in 16:20.2, helping the Panthers finish runner-up in team scoring. Owen Michelin (16:47.0) was 11th.

  • The Milton girls were third in the 1C race, led by Margaret Glenn (14th, 20:22.82).

  • Abington's Selena Wood was seventh in the girls 3A race in 21:09.45.

  • Archbishop Williams' Maddie Hussey (19:51.1) was eighth in the girls 2C race.

  • Brockton's Aaron Corlette was ninth in the boys 2A race in 16:37.7.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Oliver Ames girls take momentum into state cross country championships