Amherst Girls Cross Country Team Wins Sectional Championship, Qualifies for State Meet for 34th Consecutive Year.

The Amherst Girls Cross Country team won the Sectional Division 2b Championship at Fort Devens on Saturday (11/9) qualifying for the State Championship meet for the 34^th consecutive year (excluding pandemic year 2020 when no competitions were held). Amherst topped the 17 team field with 97 points. Newburyport was second with 107 points and area rival Northampton was third with 108 points.  Senior Maggie Kuchman of Holliston led the field, covering the challenging 5k course in 18:50.47.  As was the case last week at the Western Massachusetts Championships, Amherst used tight pack running to lock in the win, running a 1-7 spread of 55 seconds and placing all seven runners in the top 31.

Amherst was led by freshman Genevieve Dole who finished 13^th in 20:52.23.  Also scoring for Amherst were Marit MacDonald (15^th), 21:06.85; Skylar Fox (22^nd), 21:21.95; Lily Pope (24^th), 21:32.14; and Brooke Nedeau (29^th), 21:46.77.  Also finishing for Amherst were Felix Goeckel (30^th), 21:47:09; and Elizabeth Sawicki (31^st), 21:48.95.

Coach Ron Jacobs praised the team effort saying “ it was another tremendous team performance. We had a few runners really level up with big performances, and everyone who ran fought all the way to the finish. The team’s pack running is really elite. It’s not just the top five — if you look at the results, you’ll see that our 7th runner finished before the 4th runner from any other team in the race.“

Amherst girls will compete in the State Championship meet at Fort Devens on Saturday November 16.  Jacobs was optimistic about Amherst’s chances next Saturday saying “We will have great competition next week. Westwood (winner of the 2a race) has very good depth and some pretty good low sticks as well. Whitinsville Christian (winner of the 2c race) has the best runner in the state right now, and they will have the best top 3 of any team in the race. But I like our chances. This should be a race that rewards teams with good depth, and teams that know how to close in the last mile of the race. These are the main strengths of our team.”

Senior Felix Goeckel also felt that the consistent team effort throughout the season bodes well for a strong performance at States. She said, “I think the strongest thing about our team is how we rely on every runner – if one of us is having a bad day, two more step up and have great races. This allows for us to perform well on any given day, and I think it’s shown in our consistent record this season. That makes me feel excited about racing at States because I know every member of my team is giving it their all and that we win and lose as a team.”

Complete race results here.

The Division 2 girls race at Fort Devens on Saturday November 16 will start at 1:15 p.m. More information including directions, and parking availability can be found here.

Boys Finish Third
The Amherst Boys team also qualified for the State Championship Meet finishing third in the field of 25 teams with 148 points. Longmeadow took the team title with 95 points and Wakefield Memorial was the runner up with 112 points.  Junior Silas Gartner of Falmouth  was the individual champion, covering the 5k course in 15:42.91. Amherst was led by sophomore Calvin Miller who finished 16^th in a time of 16:57.83.  Also scoring for Amherst were Nico Lisle (17^th), 16:57.98; Peter Nedeau (28^th), 17:21.28; Sam Woodruff (35^th), 17:34.62; and Myles Redington (52^nd), 17:56.96.  Also finishing for Amherst were Aiden Pope (69^th), 18:15.26; and Owen Platt (84^th),18:30.69.

Complete race results here.

The Division 2 boys race at Fort Devens on Saturday November 16 will start at 12:20 p.m. More information including directions, and parking availability can be fund here.