Generals Cross-Country Teams Both Win Bay State Invitational

Success is definitely the trend for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School cross-country programs, and they lived up to their status with matching first place team finishes at the recent Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Bay State Cross-Country Invitational meet that took place on Oct. 2 at the Wrentham Development Center.

"Both varsity teams turned some heads on Saturday," said head coach Steve Sawyer, "especially the girls."

The Lady Generals captured the Division-II 5K team title in dominant fashion, tallying only 38 points (the team with the lowest points wins). The next closest team to the Hamilton-Wenham girls was the Marblehead Magicians, who came in with 164 points.

"We have a very competitive pack of 10 girls that try to stay in contact with each other during the race and key off each other," said Sawyer. "That is what cross country is all about. Running in a pack and making contact."

Leading the Hamilton-Wenham girls was Kerry Phelan (19:05.2), who finished in second place just three seconds behind Jordan O'Dea (19:02.1) of Dennis-Yarmouth.

The next group of Hamilton-Wenham girls crossed the finish line within 13 seconds of each other, led by freshman Emily Horgan (7th, 19:48.5) and sophomore Claire Pacione (8th, 19:48.9). Rounding out the Lady General runners were sophomore Caroline Goodrich (10th, 19:56.6), senior captain Alison Lanois (11th, 19:58.4), junior Emily Senning (12th, 20:01.2), and sophomore Sarah Duffy (38th, 21:16.7).

"We had six girls in the first 12 finishers [out of 230 racers]," exclaimed Sawyer. "That was a sight to see."

The field was slightly tougher for the Hamilton-Wenham boys, but they managed to rise to the top of their Varsity D-II 5K race accruing 122 points. They beat second place Hopedale (157 points) by 35 points.

"Our boys had a very challenging week after beating a strong Newburyport team on Wednesday and then to come back on Saturday to win this invitational," said Sawyer. "[They] are off to a strong start and they are anxious to build on their recent success."

The Generals victory was spearheaded by seniors Conor Lyons (6th, 16:40), Christopher Benevento (13th, 16:55.2), and sophomore Sam Malabre (28th, 17:19); each of whom earned race medals for finishing in the top 30 out of the 252 runners in the division.

Also making significant contributions to the team's overall finish were seniors Scott Goodrich (39th, 17:33.9), Jonathan Hills (40th, 17:34.2), junior Daniel von Staats (95th, 18:30.1), and senior Jack Lebel (147th, 19:13.2).

The Hamilton-Wenham junior varsity girls also displayed some dominant running talents, as sophomore Meg Blatchford (1rst, 20:30.4) and juniors Rachel Landis (2nd, 22:35.9) and Melissa Bain (3rd, 22:37.3) finished in the top three spots of the 173 girl field.

Juniors Rhiannon Stratton (33rd, 24:35.3), Jennifer Kong (36rd, 24:42.3), and Elizabeth Hull (99nd, 27:03.5) also put in good races for the Lady Generals.

Running in the JV Boys race were seniors Trip McLane (32nd, 19:40.9), Connor Adamik (43rd, 19:59.7), junior John Sexton (74nd, 20:56.9), senior Noah Shearer (104th, 21:44.5), and juniors Alex Schlecht (116th, 22:11.4) and Adam McFarland (167th, 24:34.5).

"This gave us a chance to assess our training up to this point," said Swayer, "and we are all very pleased."