The Bromfield cross-country teams each added another win to their seasons, this time against Murdock High School, on a messy course, Sept. 22. The boys finished the day 17-46, and the girls strengthened their undefeated standing 15-50.
For the boys, the three-loop 5-kilometer course—rife with mud, roots, and sharp turns—was an opportunity to practice race strategy ahead of Saturday’s Frank Kelley Invitational. “[High school] runners typically go out way too fast,” said Coach Marisa Steele. This causes runners to slow throughout the race and lose ground in the second half. “A distance runner is usually able to achieve their best or optimal result when running even or negative splits,” said Steele. An athlete runs a negative split when the second half of their race is faster than the first, and it is considered a marker of high levels of fitness and mental strength.
Based on early season results from both teams, Steele was confident the Trojans could overtake Murdock, so Wednesday’s meet was a low-pressure environment. That freed the team to focus on consistent pacing. “Most of our runners were able to run close to even splits,” said Steele. “It takes a certain amount of restraint, patience, and maturity for young runners to pull this off.”
The Trojans’ second runner sat out the race to tend to a minor injury, and the team’s senior captain, Julian Iverson, finished the race with one shoe after losing the other in the mud. Still, the team finished with seven runners in the top eight.
Despite his late-race setback, Iverson led the pack, and his team, to finish first in 20 minutes. Eighth-grader Harrison Binnick stepped into the team’s second slot, running 20 minutes, 23 seconds for second place. Right behind him was senior Nick Russo (20:28) in third, followed by eighth-grader Christian Johannesen (21:05) in fifth. Seventh-grader Ben McWaters’ sixth place finish in 21:13 brought in the team’s final points, while sophomore Diesel Whitten (21:33) and freshman Ethan Russo (21:37) each ran strong races to finish seventh and eighth, respectively.
The win is the boys’ second of the season, after opening with a 22-37 win over Hudson High School on Bromfield’s home course and falling 32-23 to the Littleton Tigers four days later. Their early-season record of 2-1 puts them second in the Mid-Wach C league, behind Littleton High School (3-0) and tied with Tyngsborough High School.
The girls were similarly efficient in their win over Murdock. Eighth-grader Cate Corbett took first in 22:00, followed by freshman Emma Squire (23:03) in third, and junior Molly Squire (24:08) in fourth. Freshman Isabel Jackson (25:38) and eighth-grader Rosie Bradley (25:39) came down the home stretch stride for stride to close out the team score with their fifth- and sixth-place finishes. Sophomores Arpi Mirzabegian (30:08) and Abigail Ames (30:09) also had a close finish, taking up spots eight and nine.
“Concentration was key to the victory,” said girls Coach Matt Lynde. The team raced Wednesday’s meet knowing they would toe the line again just a few days later at the Frank Kelley XC Invitational. Lynde said the team did well navigating a challenging course to bring home a 15-50 win, without depleting itself before the larger meet.
The girls dual-meet season record of 3-0 puts them first in the Mid-Wach C League standings.
The teams raced their home course for the last time this season on Wednesday in a meet against Quabbin High School. Results were not available in time for publication.
