The girls varsity cross-country team won 27-30 against Littleton High School in their second meet of the season, Sept. 14. The Fay Park course had to be modified due to flooding, but Bromfield’s young team stepped up to the challenge, logging quick times for an early-season race.
“We have had a great start to the season,” Coach Matt Lynde wrote in an email to the Press. He said that most of this year’s varsity runners are returning team members who trained over the summer and entered the season ready to toe the line. “Individually they are all fairly disciplined when it comes to summer training, but they also support and encourage each other throughout the preseason.”
Eighth-grader Cate Corbett, who has been on the team since 2019 and was a key presence on last year’s varsity squad, stepped up to lead the Trojans in Tuesday’s meet. Lynde said that the modified course was more difficult than usual, with runners climbing a particularly hilly section twice. Despite the conditions, Corbett ran 21 minutes, 15 seconds for 5 kilometers. That time was only 7 seconds off her personal best of 21:08—which she ran late in the season last year at Ghiloni Park against Marlborough High School—and the middle-schooler has plenty of time to refresh her record book this fall.
Following Corbett were sisters Emma and Molly Squire, a freshman and junior who came in fourth and fifth and ran 22:38 and 23:29 respectively. Eighth-grader Rosie Bradley came through in 24:29 to snag seventh, and freshman Isabel Jackson (24:32) rounded out the team’s score in eighth. Freshman Ally Becker was ninth with a personal record time of 26:25, and sophomores Arpi Mirzabegian (27:29) and Abigail Ames (28:42) were 12th and 14th.
Since Littleton took the top two spots, Lynde said that Bradley and Jackson’s performances were key to the team’s win. “Having our runners come in early and often is how we have to do it,” he explained.
After last year’s modified cross-country season that had fewer races, different team matchups, and no spectators, this year will be much closer to pre-pandemic normal. Runners and spectators no longer have to mask up at meets, which are typically held in large outdoor spaces, and Bromfield will return to league competition. This year the team will face its typical competitors—Littleton, Tyngsborough, and Murdock—as well as Quabbin and Hudson, which were added to the league.
Tuesday’s win is the team’s second of the season, following a 22-37 victory over Hudson High School, Sept. 10. In the first meet, Corbett led the team through its home course at McCurdy Track in 21:47 to take second overall. Emma Squire (21:47) was third, Molly Squire (22:01) was fourth, Jackson clocked 23:42 for sixth, and Bradley (23:43) tallied the team’s final points with a seventh-place finish. Ames (26:27) and Becker (29:02) were 10th and 13th.
This week was also the middle school team’s debut performance, and the girls came prepared. The Trojans beat the Tigers 24-34 in a 1.9-mile race and had 21 athletes cross the finish line. Leading the Bromfield pack was seventh-grader Gabriella Temps in 14:36, who took second overall. Seventh-grader Isabella Skulte was fourth in 16:08, and sixth-graders Piper Candon (16:18), Saya Dion (16:28), and Vivian Cogan (16:37) all brought home points with their fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-place finishes. Sixth-grader Rowen Moran was ninth in 16:55, and seventh-grader Sarah Voute was 11th in 17:06.
The varsity team’s back-to-back wins earned it the top spot in the Midland-Wachusett C League this week. The team raced again Wednesday, traveling to Winchendon to compete against Murdock High School. Results were not available at press time.
