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The Winchester High girls cross-country team, the defending state Division 1B champions, is off to a fast start with a 3-0 record, while the boys are 1-2. All three of these meets were held on the Horn Pond course.
The girls dominated all three of their opponents, beating Wakefield (17-46, Sept. 15), Belmont (15-45, Sept. 22) and Arlington (19-40, Sept. 30) by virtual shutouts. In cross-country, the lower score wins the meet.
The boys also defeated Wakefield by a lopsided score, 15-48, before dropping the next two against Belmont (20-35) and Arlington (17-39).
Against Belmont, the Winchester girls swept away the Marauders. The boys had several solid performances in their race to keep the meet close.
“Overall, it was a great day for the Red & Black,” said Coach Kirsten Healey.
The girls placed all five runners, before the first Belmont crossed the finish line.
“It was an impressive performance by the team, with captain Julia Ramsey, Millie McDonald, Eloise Woelk, Caroline Lanz and Abigail Bastien leading the way as our top five runners,” the coach added.
Healey also singled out Lila Daly, Josie McCabe, captain Ella Newbert and Elizabeth Nguy for their solid running efforts against the Marauders.
“The boys suffered a tough loss after their strong victory over Wakefield,” said Healey. But she quickly added, “it wasn’t a failure.”
Adel Halaseh and Noah Wellings topped the ticket with personal best times, followed by captain Nate Bickford and Nikola Dimitrov, who also had personal bests.
“The team continues to improve, and as more of last year’s Top 3 come back from injury, their hopes in getting to the All-States again only get better,” said Healey.
Healey has also been impressed by her many freshmen in the program, including Ian Croatti, Nate Smick and Dylan Scott, who all placed in the Top 10 in the JV race.
In the JV girls race, Grace Damaske made it two for two in as many meets for wins, as her future continues to brighten on the cross-country trails.
The Winchester harriers will be welcoming rival Woburn to the Horn Pond course for their fourth meet of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 6, beginning at 4 p.m.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He has been covering Winchester sports for the News since November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
