The Westford Academy Girls’ Cross Country team won the 2024 MIAA State Championship meet by four points on Saturday, Nov. 16. The competition was held at Willard Field in Devens, Massachusetts, consisting of 23 competing teams and 186 competing athletes racing on a 5000 meter (3.1 mile) course. Their prior win at DCLs marked a huge accomplishment for the team with the victory being the first time the girls’ team has won the meet since 1999, exactly 25 years ago.
The success came after two consecutive first place wins at the Divisional and Dual County League (DCL) competitions. The girls won the divisional meet held at Northfield Mountain on Nov. 9 by five points, and they earned first place at the earlier DCL competition at Franklin Park on Oct. 25 by fifteen points.
Each of these races was run by seven athletes. Coming in 5th place overall and first for the team in the state meet was junior captain Emily Wedlake. In 21st place and second for WA was a new addition to the team, freshman Diya Shrestha. Next at 34th place was another first year member of the team, freshman Emily Deeks. Senior captain Sydney Weiss earned 37th place in the meet and fourth for the team. Coming in 49th place was senior captain Rosey Deeks, who was fifth for the team. Also racing were freshman Amrita Harish, placing 179th overall and sixth for the team, alongside sophomore Annaliese Philpot, who placed 181st overall and seventh for the team.
“Massachusetts is very competitive when it comes to running, so it was really awesome for me to place that high, as well as for the team,” Wedlake said.
All five of the top runners on the team have been running competitively since middle school.
“I ended up liking cross country [after a friend got me to do it], so I stayed through middle school and [plan on staying] through high school,” Shrestha said.
Some members of the team have been influenced by the running community for even longer than middle school.
“My parents were both runners in college,” Wedlake said. “So I took it from them and did road races when I was younger, and then I progressed into doing cross country in middle school, and it’s stuck with me ever since”
Although the team was generally optimistic when approaching the championship meet, the race was not without its challenges. Not only was the race very competitive, but junior captain Abby Hennessy, one of the team’s best athletes, was unable to run in the race.
“I think because we won divisionals and DCLs despite Abby not being there, we were feeling confident,” Rosey Deeks said. “We were still worried, but we were trying to be positive and [have a good outlook].”
Under the pressure of the competition, the team had to unite to overcome the fear presented by the race.
“Many other good schools which beat us or came close in the past were also there, so [at first] I didn’t believe we would actually get first place,” Shrestha said. “I was a nervous wreck the morning of, but with the support of the coaches and their words of ‘believing in what you have done throughout the season’ or just ‘having fun’ really allowed me to think of this race with a different, more positive mindset on the starting line […]. But, I believe the tough competition really helped the team be able to push harder than before, whether that be in races or in workouts.”
In order to bring together the team and create the environment for success, the team relied on their head coach, Philip Archambault.
Archambault has been a teacher at Westford Academy for over thirty years, and has been a coach for the cross country team for the majority of his time here, first as an assistant coach for 20 years, and then as the girls’ head coach when the position opened.
“Over the last several decades, we’ve had some very good teams [and individual athletes] that have [placed well], but we just haven’t had a full complement of 5, 6, or 7 athletes that could finish the job and take it,” Archambault said. “The best teams in the state often come out of the DCL […], so if you’re competitive there, then you’re competitive pretty much anywhere.”
When it comes to winning in such a competitive environment, the WA girls’ team employs a highly developed training strategy. This strategy has helped newcomers like Shrestha rise as high performing team members.
“We did a lot of speed training and a lot of teamwork training,” Shrestha said “We did a lot of mileage during practices, seven to eight [miles]. But in the meets, we only had to do three, so it really allowed me to do the three miles pretty easily.”
Archambault was able to use his years of experience coaching both track and cross country to organize the team’s training.
“My philosophy is a little bit different [from other coaches],” Archambault said. “Because I came from the sprinting side, and I found that when we trained sprinters, the old theory was always ‘get their volume in and then get the really top end speed right at the end of the season,’ and then they’ll be their fastest. But I always found that we were never quite as fast as I thought we should be.”
As a result, Archambault implemented a training plan that started the season with higher speeds and maintained that effort, a strategy which provided the runners with considerable results.
“The entire team had [personal] bests all the way through the season, and as we got later into the season, they weren’t trying to push harder, they were just trying to be consistent,” Archambault said. “And so, they were able to be more relaxed. And as a result of being more relaxed and having a higher top end speed, they were more comfortable at the big races.”
But strategy is never the only thing the team relies on.
“You can have a great philosophy and a great training program, but if you don’t have some really talented people to help carry it out, then it doesn’t really, truly matter,” Archambault said.
This cross country season was very significant for all the competing athletes on the team, serving as an end for some, and beginning for others.
“I’m very happy. It’s a great end to my cross country career. I think this year has been really fun because the team’s been really close friends and we all get to hang out,” Rosey Deeks said.
It is important to note that the season has not ended for a part of the team.
“Although my season hasn’t quite ended, with regionals coming up in two weeks for me, I am still confident in saying that for the rest of the girls, ending with a state championship was just a cherry on top to the already excellent season we had,” Wedlake said. “What’s more important to us than any trophy is if we better ourselves both as athletes and as individuals, and that we have something important to take away from the season to use as motivation.”
Above all, this season served as one of great challenge, success, and motivation for the future.
“I am really glad my freshman season ended this way. Especially because it was our last year with the seniors Rosey and Sydney, I am so happy they are leaving WA cross country as state champions,” Shrestha said. “As a freshman, I at first really underestimated how much time and dedication it took to be on this team, but also how much it would pay off in the end after our win. Overall, this win really proved that our team is stronger than I could have imagined and I’m so excited to see what the future has in store for the next season.”
