L-S Girls Cross Country Team Takes 2nd at All-States

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was submitted to Sudbury Patch.)

Peabody handed the Lincoln-Sudbury girls cross country team its first defeat of the season by the slim margin of nine points at Saturday’s All-State Division 1 Championship race in Northfield.

Peabody’s nationally ranked senior, Catarina Rocha, was determined to make her last high school race in Massachusetts count as she dominated the field and cruised to a 45 second victory finishing first in a time of 18:06.

L-S sophomore standout Sydney Clary made sure the scoring would be close with an outstanding ninth-place finish in a time of 19:28. Sophomore Morgane Butler and senior captain Katie Lascaleia ran strong races and finished 28^th/20:09 and 32^nd/20:11, respectively. Sam Cook 54^th/20:29 and senior captain Daniela Hargus 76^th/20:52 ran well and scored points while Brianna Bisson and Ariel Keklak rounded out the L-S runners who competed.

Coach Henry Phelan was candid in his observations after the race.

"We thought we had a chance to win the state title but finishing second is quite a accomplishment," he said. "There are many strong teams and many fine runners out here today. I am very proud of all of our girls as they have trained hard all season to reach this point.”

With their second-place finish, the Warriors qualified and will compete in Saturday’s Nike Regional Championships in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.