The 2023 slate of meets kicked off Thursday under sunny skies at Cold Spring Park in Newton. The meet against Newton South and Acton-Boxborough was pushed back a day due to the venue being double booked. This change was serendipitous as it meant avoiding yet another rain-soaked afternoon in a summer full of them. While there were some puddles on the ground in the woods the conditions were generally quite favorable for racing.
Both of the day's opponents from the DCL Thorpe (large school) group compete in Division 1 (large schools) at the MIAA state tournament. Both teams for both genders are ranked among the top teams in the state for Division 1 in a popular preseason poll. The WHS boys team is ranked in the Division 2 poll, based on last year's results and who was lost to graduation but was missing the top two returning finishers for this meet. As such, the outcome of the races, separately tabulated meets versus both opponents, was a foregone conclusion. For many WHS athletes this was their first opportunity to run a high school cross country race, the experience made it worthwhile. Returning athletes had the opportunity to gauge their early-season fitness after a summer of training.
The girls varsity was the first race and Wayland was led by junior co-captain Arya Samaratunga who was followed closely by 10th grader Sofia Ciciarelli. Amy McCormack was the third Wayland finisher in her first ever race, and 9th grader Ainsley Jay was next also running her first high school race. The scoring top five was rounded out by senior AJ Bell, another rookie, who was chased across the line by senior co-captain Selena Liu. In the girls JV race Sasha Libenzon led the way with a strong effort, followed by senior Anna Munford and 9th grader Cordia Wang.
The boys JV race was next and Wayland was led by another first timer, 10th grader Leo Ciccarelli who was locked in from the get-go. He was followed by 10th grader Jamie Markey who has already shown impressive improvement from last fall. Senior and WHS superfan Giovanni Sebastianelli, running cross country for the first time since his middle school days, was the next Wayland runner across the line.
The last race of the afternoon was the boys varsity, where Will Jackson led the way followed closely by senior captain Daniel Narvaez. Seniors Kyle Reece, Michael Wightman, and Ben Caddoo rounded out the scoring contingent.
A note on the results themselves, which were a mixed bag to say the least. Some of the girls JV runners (including from Newton South running on their home course but for the first time ever) got misdirected near the end which caused confusion at the finish line. The results sheet provided to us was a dog's breakfast with some athletes recorded twice. For the boys JV race we were provided with a results sheet that listed places but no times. The officials responsible for transcribing the results are being contacted by the Newton South boys coach, but there's no assurance we'll ever know the times for the JV runners. This is a shame as that information is very helpful in planning for future races. This is a topic I'll be bringing up at the end of season coaches meeting.
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