The girls cross country team finished off their regular season with a win against Framingham 21-40 to make their final record 5-6. The course consisted of 2.95 miles around neighboring streets around Framingham High School. The three top girls finished within 4 seconds apart from one another. According to head coach Jamie Farrell, “the best part of the race was when we took spots 2-5 – which was a main way the girls stepped it up.” Sophomore Kristen Coyne finished first for Walpole and second overall with a time of 20:13. Freshman Emma Campbell stepped up big as she finished second for the Rebels right behind Coyne at 20:14. This was a big deal for the rebels because they were missing two of their top runners in junior Megan Peterson and sophomore Rachael Barry due to illness. There was a three second gap between sophomore Mackenzie Wilson and freshmen Emma Campbell . Sophomore Gabbi Petruzzelio came in 7th for Walpole.
The junior varsity course was 2 miles around the neighboring streets still which is shorter than what the girls are use to racing. In the junior varsity race, the top three runners finished 2 seconds after each other, which is really good. Sophomore Catherine Murphy came in first for females at 15:47 with junior Amanda McManus finishing right behind her at 15:48. Behind McManus by a second finished junior Katie Heiberger at 15:49.
The girls finished off their season with a league meet at Norwood high school on a very muddy course. The day started off with girls’ freshmen 3k race. Campbell medaled finishing in 4th place at 11:00. “Last year, varsity runner Rachael Barry in third. I expect that these two will be able to pack it up next XC season” said Farrell. Freshmen Kathryn Lawton finished 30 seconds after Campbell finishing in 11th.
In the co-ed JV 3K race, senior Erin McCarthy finished in 2ndfor the females medaling at 12:23. Junior Jacqui Conley finished and medaled in 5th place at 12:43. The two sophomores LeBlanc sisters, Erin and Katie, packed run together to finish in 6th in 7th two seconds apart from each other.
In the JV race sophomore Casey Ganshirt had a really good race, with a 100 meters left of the race Ganshirt passed two girls to finishing at 10th place at 22:50. Following Ganshirt, Heiberger, junior Danielle Levya and Murphy took the next three spots finishing in places 16-18 right behind her. The JV girls came in second overall, only losing to Weymouth which is one of the best teams in the sate.
In the varsity 5K race, Coyne finished in 18th to medal at 20:45. Petruzzelio, Peterson and Wilson ran as a pack to finish one after another. Petruzzelio was only a second off her 5K personal record which is a very big deal considering the conditions of the course. Overall, the varsity team finished in 7th in the league. The girls look forward to ending their season as successful as this week in the coach invitational meet and the Franklin park meet.
