By Tim DeLouchrey
Sports Liaison
This Columbus Day weekend, the cross country team traveled to New York City to attend the annual Reebok Manhattan XC invitational race. The race was loaded with teams from across the northeast of all divisions, ready to prove their team was the best. At the race, runners placing in the top seventy-five took home metals, and runners finishing in the top 150 would score for their team.
Despite the competition, WA fared very well. Senior James Millet finished 27th in the varsity boys’ race with a time of 14:03, followed by senior Dillon Mcgee, placing 41st with a time of 14:17 in the 2.5 mile race. WA had four runners place in the top 150 in that race. The race contained 208 runners, making these finishes increasingly impressive. Top tier varsity runners John Miller, Jared Molnar, and Tim Breen were all unable to run due to injury, leaving many to believe WA could have potentially placed even higher.
Varsity girls also found success in their race, with four runners finishing in the top 150 out of 209 total runners. These results were highlighted by juniors Caroline Dolan and Bridget McCusker, finishing 60th and 75th. They both received medals in their 2.5 mile competition.
Where WA had the most success however, was in the freshman girls’ race. Claire Widmann placed first overall in her race, with Emily Turcott finishing not far behind in 8th place. The race contained 100 runners, and WA was thrilled to place that high. Both Widmann and Turcott both run varsity during the regular season, which gave them an upper hand on the competition, and helped them finish as high as they did. Widmann has won multiple races this season, but none were as impressive as this. The race for freshmen was only 1.25 miles, and she managed to win the race by a whopping fourteen seconds, with a time of 7:01.
“This was one of the best years we’ve ever had,” said assistant coach Peter Dennechuk.
The freshmen boys’ race contained only three WA runners, out of 152 total. Matt Downey finished in 38th place in the 1.25 mile dash with a time of 6:50. Downey runs varsity during the regular season, and prefers to run longer distances, but due to the format of the racing, he was slated to run the short race with the freshmen.
Sophomore boys were also a highly successful group, with four runners finishing top seventy- five and taking home medals in their first race. Karthik Ravachandran and Logan Molnar placed 21st and 22nd, with times of 15:06 and 15:08. Nehal Nevali, as well as Shyam Bhagat and Tommy Cantwell, also received medals, as they placed 49th, 66th, and 75th. The second sophomore boys race produced another medal from Andrew Beck who finished 66th.
Due to the need for more girls to run for WA in the varsity race, the girls did not participate in the sophomore race, as they were moved up to varsity.
The boys’ junior varsity race did not produce any medals, with Garrett Guillmette being the only runner from WA to place in the top 150 at 111th. In WA’s defense, only three boys ran for the JV team, while there were 264 total runners in the race.
The girls’ junior varsity race also didn’t produce any medals, however four WA runners placed in the top 150, in another larger race containing 227 runners. Caroline Baggeroer and Abby Chirokas led the way for JV, placing 88th and 94th.
Overall, the trip was largely successful for WA. Between injuries, as well as runners who were unable to travel with the team, WA certainly performed above expectations.
“Another great weekend in New York,” said head coach Paul Poisson, “I feel lucky to coach such a great team.”
The team stayed in New York another night after the race, relaxing at the hotel and hanging out at the mall.
“We should have more trips like this,” said junior Adam Peternell.
New York was well received by the entire team, especially for people who had never been on the trip before, such as Emily Turcott.
“The trip was so fun,” said Turcott. “Definitely the highlight of my freshman year so far.”
