The Bromfield girls cross-country team finished up its season at the MIAA Division 3 all-state championships on Nov. 20. The day was crisp and clear at the Wrentham Developmental Center, where the Trojans stepped up to post some of their best individual performances of the season.
The team lined up that Saturday missing three of its usual scoring members due to injury and other conflicts. Coach Matt Lynde said the runners focused on executing their individual races, rather than on the missing teammates, and landed in 13th place in a field of 22 teams.
After seeing a few of his athletes go out hard and struggle on the back end of the Stanley Park course the week before, Lynde was glad to see the Trojans run a strong second half at Wrentham. “There was just some smart running,” said Lynde, where the girls were “just trying to be patient and not let this moment be too big.” The girls moved the team up one slot from the 3-kilometer mark, where it stood in 14th, surpassing Narragansett High School, which fell from 11th to 14th.
Junior Molly Squire finishes strongly, placing 56th in a field of 175 runners. (Photo by Lily Robinson)
Freshman Emma Squire was the team’s first finisher, posting a personal record time of 19 minutes, 27 seconds. The time slashes 28 seconds off her previous best, run at Stanley Park on Oct. 23, and represents a 1-minute, 50-second season-to-season improvement. Her performance put her 12th in a field of 175 of the top small-school runners in the state. Lynde said that Squire’s season is one of the best of any runner he has coached. “One simple factor for her success … she put in the work,” he wrote in an email to the Press. “She trains with the same focus she has when she is racing. She wants to be challenged in her workouts and never cuts corners in her training.”
Lynde also had praise for the team’s third runner, Gabriella Temps, who stepped up to fill a key spot in the last two races of the season. The seventh-grader was originally an alternate for the postseason races, but toed the starting line at the Division 3C sectional meet on Nov. 13 when a teammate got sick. She demolished her previous best time on the Stanley Park course, and she trimmed the record by another 51 seconds to run 22:37 and place 125th at Wrentham. Lynde said the young runner has handled the pressure of the larger meets well. “She’s just loving what she’s doing,” he said.
Several other runners also ended their seasons on a high note, taking advantage of near-perfect racing conditions to shape up their own times. Junior Molly Squire finished second for the team with a well-earned season best of 21:01, and sophomore Abigail Ames and freshman Ally Becker ran personal records of 22:50 and 23:46, respectively.
Looking over the team results, Lynde was pleased across the board. He said each runner either matched or exceeded his expectations. “The team was amazing,” he said.
Results
- Emma Squire (freshman) 19:27, 12th place
- Molly Squire (junior) 21:01, 56th place
- Gabriella Temps (grade 7) 22:37, 125th place
- Abigail Ames (sophomore) 22:50, 134th place
- Ally Becker (freshman) 23:46, 142nd place
- Arpi Mirzabegian (sophomore) 24:04, 160th place
