Cross-Country Girls Still Undefeated, Boys Lose By One Point

It was another split decision for the MHS Cross-country teams as they faced off against the Gloucester Fisherman on the 2.9 mile course at Ravenswood Park in Gloucester on Tuesday.

The girls took home a dominant 15-50 victory, securing the top 9 finishers in their race. The Lady Magicians were led by Mary Kauffman (18:56), Madeline Piela (19:15), Chloe Heskett (19:19), Claire Depew (19:29), and Molly Depew (19:53).

The boys got another dominant performance from James Wigglesworth, who won his race with a time of 15:29. But in the end they missed a win by just one point (28-29) and a margin of just five second.

The Fisherman runners took the next three spots, as Wesley Dunn (15:44), Noah Mondello (15:49), and Caulin Rodgers (15:58) came in behind Wigglesworth.

Marblehead's Will Herlihy (16:02) and Mike Harper (16:07) finished in fifth and sixth place, but a seventh place finish by Gloucester's J. Holscher (16:09) secured the win for the Fisherman.

Holscher's finish was a mere five seconds in front of Marblehead's Noah Bitterman (16:16), showing how close the competition really was. Patrick Casey (16:20) and Ethan Levine (16:21) rounded out the top ten for the Magicians.

"Any loss tough, but a one-point defeat is really tough," said boys head coach Brian Heenan. "With half of a mile to go, it looked like we had it won."

"My boys ran some of the fastest times any Marblehead runners have run on this course in the last decade," continued Heenan. "When it came down to the end, Gloucester had a stronger kick. You have to give [Gloucester] credit, especially their fourth runner [Caulin Rodgers]; he had a phenomenal last half mile."

"I am very happy with the way they ran today," said Heenan. "They are not happy though; they wanted a win. This will hopefully fuel the fire for them as we continue through the season."

Both teams next meet is on Tuesday, October 12, at home against the Danvers High Falcons.