The girls and boys cross-country teams outpaced Quabbin Regional and Lunenburg runners in a three-school league meet hosted by Quabbin Regional High School in Barre last week. The Sept. 17 race was the team’s second Midland-Wachusett C meet of the season.
Senior Harrison Binnick won the boys race with a time of 17 minutes, 37 seconds, followed by four teammates to sweep the remaining top five positions. Their performance earned the team a perfect score—15, a number obtained by adding the place numbers of a team’s first five finishers—decisively beating Quabbin 15-50. Lunenburg entered only four boys and could not score as a team; league rules allowed Bromfield to record a 15-50 victory.
The girls won both their races as well, beating Quabbin Regional 16-47, a near-perfect score, and Lunenburg 24-35. Rosie Bradley set a new course record and won the girls race with a time of 20:24. Sophomore Abby Wool and junior Jacquie Wilkins placed fourth and fifth, while senior Christina Kekis and senior Helen Holzmann rounded out Bromfield’s top five with sixth and ninth place finishes.
Rosie Bradey (center in Bromfield jersey) is off to a strong start at the tri-meet at Quabbin Regional. She won the race by a large margin. (Photo by Kate Wool)
“Quabbin is a tough course and tends to run slow so I was happy with all of our runners’ efforts,” boys coach Marisa Steele wrote the Press. For senior Christian Johannesen, who finished third, the race was his first of the season, a “rust-buster,” according to Steele. “He looked very strong for not having raced in months,” she said.
Steele said the boys team has been focusing on keeping the spread between its top runners as small as possible. Only 34 seconds separated first-place finisher Harrison Binnick from Shea Van Cleef, who finished fifth, she noted.
Following last week’s runs, the boys and girls teams both rank second in the Midland-Wachusett C Division. Both are undefeated in league competition.
Next up for Bromfield’s runners is the Ocean State Invitational, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, at Goddard Park in Warwick, Rhode Island, an annual event that brings together the best cross-country runners in the region. Thirty Bromfield JV and varsity runners are registered to compete in seven different events, including the 5K championship girls race in which Bradley will represent her team.
Midland-Wachusett tri-meet with Quabbin and Lunenburg, at Quabbin, Sept. 17
Top 5 Bromfield finishers
Boys
- Harrison Binnick, 17 minutes, 37 seconds, first place
- Kai Kemeza, 17:50, second place
- Christian Johannesen, 17:58, third place
- Liam Kemeza, 18:04, fourth place
- Shea Van Cleef, 18:11, fifth place
Girls
- Rosie Bradley, 20:24, first place
- Abby Wool, 22:15, fourth place
- Jacquie Wilkins, 22:50, fifth place
- Christina Kekis, 23:05, sixth place
- Helen Holzmann, 24:03, ninth place
