For the first time in 25 years, the Westford Academy Girls’ Cross Country team finished top ten in their state meet on Saturday, Nov. 18 in Fort Devens, winning 8th place overall after a 3-2 regular season.
WA has been preparing for this meet all season and with the right training, they put their hard work to the test. There were 7 girls from WA that ran. Sophomores Abigail Hennessy and Emily Wedlake and junior Rosey Deeks came in the top three for WA.
Hennessy finished her race with a run time of 18:48.00 coming in first for WA and sixth overall out of the 183 girls. Wedlake placed 22nd with a time of 19:35.77, coming in second for WA. Deeks with a time of 20:01.06 which brought her to third place for WA and 40th overall.
“Most of the preparation is done in their weeks leading up to this point. The only thing that we can do as coaching staff is make sure that we don’t over train them in the last week or two and ruin their fitness,” Girls’ Coach Philip Archambault said. “You are not going to make someone drastically more fit in a three or four day span.”
WA went up against very talented teams such as Acton-Boxborough and Cambridge and ran the 3.1 mile course against 183 girls.
“We went into it […] proud of what we had done overall and we just knew we’ve done the work and that we can do it,” Wedlake said.
Wedlake speaks very highly of her coach as he is a very big part of the team’s success. According to Wedlake, Archambault is there for his athletes and has the drive and determination to bring them to the top of the leaderboard at states.
“He will always understand when something is hurting you, and he will change the workout based on how we’re feeling and cater it to our exact needs,” Wedlake said.
Girls XC continues to show off their hard work and talent many times throughout the season with Hennessy also winning the title of top Dual County League (DCL) runner this season.
“[I am] really excited to get one last opportunity to compete against people from all around New England,” Hennessy said. “We are feeling prepared from the training and workouts we have done this season.”
WA will compete in the regionals meet at Franklin Park on Saturday at 12pm.
