With a dual meet victory over Milton on senior night on Wednesday Oct. 16, both Walpole Boys and Girls Cross Country successfully continue their season and proceed into the postseason.
Seizing the win on the girls’ and boys’ sides, both teams came out with a score of 27-28 against the very competitive Milton teams. Until this meet, Milton had an impressive season with a record of 6-1. A consistent rival to Walpole, Milton previously defeated the girls in last year’s Division Three Championship meet.
“This fight against Milton is a three round fight. Facing them at the [Bay State Conference] and divisional race[s], we have only won round one. Instead of celebrating after a close win, we are just preparing for the next race,” senior captain Anthony Borelli said.
Junior Mia Costa led the Walpole pack and clinched first place overall. With a time of 16:32, sophomore Cate Stanton took third place behind a Milton runner. Shortly after, sophomores Cara Morris and Katie Soule finished and junior Danielle Dentremont followed to secure the win.
“After losing Laine Dimartinis, our number three, to a stress fracture, our morale was low. We knew that either Katie Soule, Colleen Barry, Cara Morris, or Danielle Dentremont had to step up into the number three spot. In this meet, Katie Soule ran an incredible race stepping up to the plate and securing that number four spot,” senior captain Rachel Stanton said.
For the boys, senior Shane Grant took first place with Tyler Sullivan finishing closely behind in third. Following two Milton runners, seniors Nathan Shnaider and Borelli finished in sixth and seventh. Senior Daniel Forester finished in tenth with a time of 14:18 to round out the boys’ top five scorers.
“As a team, we ran our best race. An excellent amount of [personal records] for the boys edged us by one point over Milton,” Borelli said. “Going into Wednesday’s meet, we knew Milton would be the most important meet of the regular season to win. Milton is a threat in both our division and in our Conference. We felt confident having a home field advantage and great workouts in the past couple weeks, but we knew it wouldn’t be an easy win.”
Looking forward to a successful postseason, the girls hope to place well in both Divisionals and the All-State Championship. After this meet, the team has a record of 6-2, which puts them in the top spot—tied with Milton—for the Herget title, which is competed for between teams in the southern division of the Bay State Conference.
“I’m excited for the postseason because we have had a pretty good season so far, if we keep up with what we have been doing and working hard I think the future looks promising,” senior captain Colleen Barry said.
Despite their successful season and record of 5-3, the boys still believe they have work to put in before their postseason races. As the Bay State Conference is widely viewed as the most competitive conference in MA, competition will only get stiffer for the team as they continue to advance.
“Our top varsity guys ran competitive, strategic races and our rising JV athletes had a number of PRs as well. There is still a lot of work to do before we will be ready for the postseason. This year there are 7 or 8 teams in Division III that have a legitimate shot at the title,” boys coach, Tim Giblin said.
To top off a great meet, the senior night festivities included posters made for the seniors by their teams, banners made by team photographer David Forester, and it culminated in all the runners enjoying a cake with all the seniors’ names. With a total of 14 seniors, many of whom make up their top runners, the boys are losing a large part of their varsity team. Despite losing only five seniors, the girls, too, are taking a blow from this graduating class.
“Losing the seniors next year is going to be very sad for our team. Our captains this year are very good at bringing the team together, always coming up with inclusive team bonding ideas. The closeness of our team this year is probably why we’ve been so successful because the captains have created an environment where we can have fun but also work hard and have a lot of trust in one another,” junior Charlotte Clarke said.