The newly established Walpole Middle School Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams ran in the Adams Farm Invitational on Thursday, October 25 and the Massachusetts State Middle School XC Invitational on Saturday, November 3. Both the boys and girls teams went up against Westwood at Adams Farm and faced some tough competition. The boys team lost to Westwood with an end score of 19-36. The girls’ team also lost by a score of 17-45.
Although the boys team lost they had some great individual performances. One of these performances was from 8th grader Jack Bushway coming in first for Walpole with a PR of 11:38 for a 1.7 mile course at Adam’s Farm. This was Bushway’s first time running under 12 minutes. Eighth grader Kyle Barry came in second for Walpole with a time of 12:04 and fifth grader Anthony Borelli came in third for Walpole with a time of 12:14. 8th graders Alec Horton and Jack Takacs also ran strong races. Horton ran an impressive three minute PR finishing with a time of 14:19, and Takacs also showed a considerable improvement shaving one minute off his previous time and coming in with a final time of 12:48. In order to improve for next time, Coach Conor Cashman said, “We need more runners to compete at the top.”
The girls team also had some strong racers in the mix. Much of the race was led by 7th grader Lindsay Sullivan until she was passed at the end by two Westwood runners. Sullivan ran under 13 minutes for her first time with a PR of 12:41. 8th grader Delaney Murphy took second place for Walpole with a time of 13:06. Murphy was followed by 8th grader Stephanie Forester scooping up third place and running a 13:09. Fifth grader Michela O’ Toole also had a big day with a two minute PR and an end time of 14:43.
The Massachusetts State Middle School XC Invitational in Tewksbury was a great success for both the boys and girls teams. Seventeen athletes went to the meet, and seventeen athletes PR-ed. For the girls team, Sullivan ran another strong race with a time of 12:04 and placing 31st over all. Not far behind was 7th grader Danielle Borelli running a time of 12:45 and placing 51st. Murphy with a PR of 12:42 and Katie Fenton with one of 15:38 both ran well in the 8th grade race. Erin Mouradian also PR-ed by 3 minutes to be the first Walpole finisher in the 5th and 6th Grade race with her time of 13:15.
For the boys, 5th grader Tyler Sullivan ran a PR of 11:28 and placed the highest out of all of the Walpole runners at 20th out of 262. In the same race fellow classmate Anthony Borelli broke 12 minutes for the first time with a PR of 11:55 to place 44th. Strong races also came from 8th grader Kevin Bowery and 7th grader Hayden Stegman. Bushway ran the fastest time for Walpole with a PR of 11:07 and placing 44 out of 240.
Proven by the improvements in the times of these runners, the program is fairing pretty well. Commenting on changes for next year Coach Cashman said, “We would like to be in a league with regular dual meets.” Overall, as the program continues to grow next year, the students look forward to their first team victory.
