Running away: Norwell, BC High were big winners at divisional cross country championships

The fact that Chuck Martin could see this coming didn't diminish his enjoyment.

Martin, along with Kelly Adams, coaches the Norwell High girls and boys cross country teams. He thought the Clippers were set up well for last Saturday's divisional state meets, and he was spot on.

Norwell had two individual champs at the Wrentham Developmental Center as freshman Katherine Murray won the girls' Div. 3A race in 18:50.6 over 5K, and junior John Doherty won the Div. 3A boys race in 16:12.0. The girls also won the team crown and the boys were fifth.

"It was definitely a good day for us," said Martin, who's been running the show at Norwell for 32 years. "I thought that would be the case. There's so much data in cross country that pre-race it looked like the girls were a heavy favorite; we just had to run a solid race. And the boys, we were hoping for a top-five finish, so we were happy with that as well."

There were 18 qualifying races overall last Saturday, spread over three sites. The Div. 1 races (A, B and C for both boys and girls) were held at Northfield Mountain Recreation Center. The six Div. 2 races were held at Fort Devens, and the six Div. 3 races were in Wrentham.

The top seven teams from each race advanced their entire lineup to this Saturday's state championship races (Div. 1, Div. 2 and Div. 3) at Fort Devens. Also qualifying individually were the top 10 runners from non-qualifying teams in each race.

Martin said Murray's win was in line with the rest of her debut season. "She's pretty much won everything except for a couple of invitationals," he said. "She's very competitive. It almost looks effortless when you watch her run. I think she has a little more in her and we'll kind of see that this weekend (at Fort Devens)."

Norwell's girls roster skews young overall. Sophomore Audrey Birtwell finished 12th in 19:52.1 and freshman Hadley Amon was 15th in 20:15.0, just ahead of senior Hallie Robitaille (17th, 20:22.1). Freshman Olivia Sowinski was 35th in 21:10.4.

"We certainly are" ahead of schedule, Martin said. "The first three, they weren't even on our team last year. We completely changed the whole team around and it's obviously made a huge difference."

For the Norwell boys, Doherty won his 3A race and was followed by teammates Joshua Edelman (8th, 16:40.6) and Aidan Coyle (22nd, 17:17.3).

"It was good to see John get the win," Martin said. "He's a hard worker. Both Josh and John are all in on the sport and all in on track and field, so it was good to see them running their best races at the divisional meets."

As easy as 1-2-3

BC High had perhaps the most dominant showing of any local team last weekend as the Eagles won the Div. 1A team crown thanks to a sweep of the top three individual places. Junior Greg McGrath finished first in 15:50.23. Senior John Wilson, of Norwell, was second in 16:01.47, and senior Shamus Larnard, of Scituate, was third in 16:02.32.

BC High coach Seth Kirby said Wilson had struggled a bit to keep up with his teammates in previous races this fall, but they came together at the right time. "I knew Wilson was capable because he's been training with those guys," Kirby said. "To see all three of them put that together was great. It was well timed and executed."

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BC High sophomore Owen Geagan, of Weymouth, finished 24th, and classmate Colin Kurtz was 27th.

This was BC High's first team title at this stage since 1968. "We've been runner-up a bunch" since then, Kirby said. "(The team members) were excited, but the goal is All-States. They were pleased, but I think the main goal is still ahead."

Runners-up times two

Oliver Ames had the most consistent across-the-board showing among local schools as both the girls and boys teams finished second in their respective Div. 1C races. The girls scored 65 points, trailing only champ Billerica (36 points). The boys scored 106 points, trailing only champ Reading (70).

The OA girls are defending Div. 1 state champs. The Tigers put themselves in position to repeat by placing three runners in the top 10 at the Div. 1C race. Senior Braelyn Graham was second in 19:29.42, followed by junior Iole Apostoli (7th, 20:00.16) and senior Hannah Dupill (9th, 20:09.01). Senior Madeleine Stewart was 19th (20:46.11).

Junior Landon Sarney was the top OA boys finisher, placing fourth in 16:32.84. The Tigers' next four runners were bunched within nine spots -- Alex Callanan (23rd, 17:20.96), Lawrence Dear (27th, 17:30.44), Oscar Feodoroff (29th, 17:37.37) and Douglas Smith (31st, 17:38.26).

Wildcats in the hunt

The Weymouth girls placed third in team scoring in their Div. 1A race, thanks to a solid grouping that saw four seniors finish consecutively -- Isabella Galusha (12th, 19:48.09), Gracie Richard (13th, 19:48.18), Kate Carnes (14th, 19:48.45) and Emma Daley (15th, 19:50.39).

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"They were super controlled, they were relaxed," coach Mike Miller said of the quartet. "I'm not going to say they could have run a lot faster, but I think there's another gear there that we're hoping we can access in a week. ... We really just wanted to survive and advance and make sure that we were coming into (the state championship) with our best foot forward and having a chance to win there."

Miller also was pleased with his fifth-place runner, junior Jessica Harding, who was 35th overall in 20:54.28. Miller called it "by far the best race she's ever run."

Weymouth won the girls' Div. 1 state crown in 2010, "and we've been in the top five six times" since then, Miller said. "We're knocking on that door. We would obviously like to break through. In 2010 we had basically a perfect day, and it's going to take one of those again. But I think that they're ready to do that. Our top four runners are seniors who have been doing this since eighth grade."

Miller said he expects the competition Saturday at Fort Devens to be intense. "I actually think this is the deepest I've ever seen the state on the girls' side," he noted. "It's just going to come down to how much did Saturday take out of those teams, physically and emotionally, and who can rebound from that to be their best?"