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One week after the Winchester High School girls cross-country team won the State Division 1B championship on the Wrentham Development Center cross-country 5,000-meter course, they were ready to compete in the Division 1 All-State Meet of Champions at the Devens Willard Athletic Complex in Ayer on Nov. 15.
By meet’s end, the Red & Black girls finished sixth against the rest of their counterparts throughout the entire state in Division 1. Last year, they ended up 15th.
“We definitely made great progress in just one year,” said Coach Kirsten Healey.
Middlesex League rival Lexington won the statewide event this year with a total time of 1:33:52.50, followed by Billerica Memorial (1:35:11.54), Newton North (1:36:54.69), Concord-Carlisle (1:37:20.06) and Westford Academy (1:36:13.32), before the Red & Black’s (1:38:10.12) sixth place finish.
Needham (1:38:15.58), Weymouth (1:40:44.00), Wachusett Regional (1:41:01.40) and Bishop Feehan (1:41:08.79) rounded out the Top 10. There were 23 Division 1 teams that qualified and participated in this statewide event.
There were 191 runners who finished the 5,000-meter course in Ayer, and Winchester’s Julia Ramsey (19:03.33) was among the elite by coming in 20th overall. She also collected 18 points for the team. Millie McDonald (19:22.71) was close behind her in 28th place finish, while picking up 25 more points for the team.
Chloe Chan (19:34.41, 35th), Caroline Lanz (19:54.73, 47th), Michelle Su (20:14.94, 69th), Alexis Machmer (20:47.21, 99th) and Abigail Bastien (23:24.06, 188th) rounded out the Winchester All-State runners.
“It was a solid effort by the girls to move up nine places in just one year,” said Healey. “Throughout the season, the girls drew strength from being able to pack run early on in each race, before moving up in the second half (of each run). It was an exciting season, but it’s also great to have four of our top five runners coming back next year.”
Damaske completes season at the All-State Meet of Champions
Noah Damaske qualified for the Division 1 All-State Meet of Champions in Ayer on Nov. 15 after running a solid race at the state divisional meet the previous week in Wrentham, where he finished 28th overall.
The junior Winchester harrier (23:24.06) then came in 97th overall against his peers throughout the state. A total of 188 boys completed the race in Ayer.
“(Damaske) has been our No. 1 runner all season long, and so it was great that he was able to represent us on the All-State level,” said Healey.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News last November.
