On Saturday, November 18, boys and girls cross country headed to Wrentham Developmental Center for the MIAA All State Championships. Both the boys and the girls competed in the large school Division I race.

The girls started off the day with a bang, with Maggie Donahue leading scoring runners Loren Andrews, Nora Bannon, Julia Hershelman, and Bridget Ulian to a 2nd place finish overall. They beat the first, second and, fourth ranked teams in the state to take home the runner-up title with Concord-Carlisle winning the state title.

“I think it was a really big team effort, and we all knew going into it that we had to bring our A-game and really work together. We were all so happy with how the race went, and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the season,” said Nora Bannon ‘20.

Junior Maggie Donahue battled Milton’s Bridget Mitchell for the 2nd place title and ultimately made the move with 200 meters to go, to secure her second place finish, beating Milton’s Mitchell. The winner of the race, Natick’s Grace Connolly, took the win by 17 seconds as she defended her 2016 state title.

The girls top seven runners were Maggie Donahue (2nd in the state), Loren Andrews (13th), Nora Bannon (31st), Julia Hershelman(43rd), Bridget Ulian (69th), Grace Ahonen (140th), and Izzy Maggioni (149th).

The boys took a close pack to a 3rd place finish with Thomas Weiss ‘18 and Matthew Cervon ‘18 leading, and Colby Zarle, Zach Barry and Jason Norris rounding out the top 5 boys scorers. The boys lost to the runner up, Lowell, and state champion Saint John’s Shrewsbury.

“We went up to the course preparing for a tough, cold, muddy day. We just had to be the toughest ones out there. Our game plan was to get out there, race hard, and be the toughest ones out there. Sadly the race didn’t go our way but we gave it our all,” said Jason Norris ‘20.

In terms of individuals, Saint John’s Prep’s Tristan Shelgren, committed to UNC, battled Newton North’s, Andrew Mah, for the win with Shelgren coming out victorious. Shelgren claimed his first state Cross Country title

The boys top seven were Thomas Weiss ‘18 (17th in the state), Matthew Cervon ‘18 (18th), Colby Zarle ‘19 (33rd), Zach Barry ‘20 (37th), Jason Norris ‘20 (50th), Nate Kohnen ‘20 (73rd), and Jameson O’Neil ‘18 (83rd).

Spectators, runners, and coaches all praised  Wrentham Developmental Center: As manager and spectator Jack Steen ‘20 said, “It was a great course for spectators, and it allowed us to cheer for our teammates at almost any spot despite the muddy conditions,” 

The following weekend the Boys and Girls traveled to Bowdoin Park, in Wappinger Falls, New York for the Nike Cross Northeast Regional.

The girls placed 4th overall in the Northeast region and the boys placed 11th in the region.

“We went up to the course preparing for a tough, cold, muddy day. We just had to be the toughest ones out there,” said Jason Norris ‘20.

Maggie Donahue battled once again for a 2nd place finish in the entire Northeast. With this finish she qualified for Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon, placing her amongst the top runners in the entire country and putting her as one of the first Wellesley distance runners to run at nationals.

The Nike Cross Regionals were the final high school cross country races for seniors Thomas Weiss, Matthew Cervon, Jameson O’Neil, Loren Andrews, and Grace Ahonen.

On December 2nd, at the Glendoveer Golf Course in Oregon, Donahue raced against the fastest distance runners in the country, coming in 60th in the nation. The national champions were senior Aidan Troutner of Utah, and sophomore Katelyn Tuohy of New York, who ran a course record 16:44.

Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *