ARHS Girls Cross Country Team Repeats as Divisional Champion

The Amherst-Pelham Regional High School (ARHS) Girls Cross Country team repeated as Division 2B champions, finishing the November 8 race at Northfield Mountain with a total of 79 points. Northampton finished second with 86 points. Holliston was third with 108 points. All three teams automatically qualify for the State Championship meet in Devens on November 15, where they will compete in the Class 2 State Championship race against the top seven teams each in Divisions 2A, 2B, and 2C, plus the top 10 finishers in each of the class races who are not affiliated with a qualifying team.

In capturing the championship, Amherst continued its tight pack running at the Western Mass Championships, with the top four runners finishing within 20 seconds of each other, in places 11 through 16. Ella Austin was the top finisher for Amherst in a time of 21:26 on Northfield’s challenging 5k course. She was followed by Genevieve Dole (21:27), Lily Pope (21:33), and Nina Holden (21:46). Marit MacDonald (26^th place, 22:29) completed Amherst’s scoring. Other varsity runners were Ella Jamate (30^th, 22:42), and Kristina Barseghyan (45^th, 23:26). The race was won by Lucy Downin of Holliston in 19:19, with Mairead O’Neil of Northampton close behind in 19:24. The fastest time of the day was Whitinsville Christian’s Emily Flagg in Division 2C, who blazed through the course in 18:30. There were 142 runners in Amherst’s race.

The ARHS girls team is co-coached by Elena Bethke-Brunswick and Ron Jacobs.

Jacobs said, “We were very happy to be able to win the divisional meet for the second year in a row. Our approach leading into the meet was that we didn’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves. Our main focus is the state championship next week, but we wanted to have a positive race that would continue to build our confidence, with good performances throughout the lineup. I think we accomplished that. We had very tough competition from Northampton — they definitely showed up ready to race, and they delivered their best race of the year in my opinion. It was exciting to see two Western Mass teams at the top of the podium, and we look forward to our continued rivalry with them

He added, “The breakout performance for us was probably Ella Austin, who was our top runner despite only moving up to varsity two weeks ago. She is a fierce competitor, and she is just going to keep getting better. Genevieve Dole was also really great — she seems to be peaking at just the right time. I think she’s going to have a really big performance at the state championship. Lily Pope has been consistently excellent all season. Nina Holden looks to be peaking really well for the postseason. Marit Macdonald, Ella Jamate, and Kristina Barseghyan all delivered tough, gritty performances.”

Looking ahead the State Division 2 Meet of Champions, Jacobs felt that Amherst will have tough competition, especially from Boston Latin, Marblehead, and Westwood from Division 2A. The top three teams in Division 2C are Whitinsville Christian, Bishop Fenwick, and Dover-Sherborn. “It should be a very exciting race,” Jacobs predicted.

Complete results are available here.

Boys Team Places Second
The ARHS Boys’ Cross Country team also had a successful day, placing second to Groton-Dunstable in the Division 2B race. Amherst finished with 138 points to Groton-Dunstable’s 59. Northampton was third with 165 points. Amherst’s top finisher was Calvin Miller, who ran 16:42 for third place. Other Amherst scorers were Otis Fairey (16^th 17:31), Sam Woodruff (29^th 18:07), Peter Nedeau (38^th 18:24), and Holden Castenson (56^th 18:47). Silas Gartner of Falmouth won the race in a time of 16:11.

With the second place finish, the boys’ team also qualifies for the state meet on November 15.

Complete results are available here.