After nearly a year of not writing, I'll do my best to pick up again with the beginning of the cross country season. This year, both teams look to continue the success of last season and are off to a good start with wins against Weymouth and Milton on a sweltering hot day.
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| Margie Cullen and Sarah Armstrong lead teammates Sammy Lerner and Kaleigh Hughes. |
For the Rockets, the win against Weymouth was a tough one. The Wildcats came hungry, looking for a fight and did not disappoint. Needham put up a strong one-two punch from Margie Cullen and Sarah Armstrong running times of 19:51 and 20:08 respectively over the 5k course at Cutler Park. But then the Wildcats put 4 girls in before Needham's third. Newcomers, Kaleigh Hughes and Olivia Corkery ran gutsy performances to finish 7th and 8th overall and veteran Katie Horton closed out the scoring for Needham in 9th. The Rockets narrowly came out on top with a 27-28 victory over a much improved Weymouth team. Milton was never a factor in the race as Needham walked away with victory 15-50.
The boys meet ended up being much closer than anticipated when Needham's top returner, captain Adrian Amaya, fell during the warm-up, dislocated his hip and was unable to race. However, the team rallied behind sophomore Drew Khalaj and defeated Weymouth 26-29 and Milton 19-38. Khalaj had a huge performance for the Rockets running to his first cross country win finishing the Cutler course in 17:02. Behind Khalaj was John Benner in 3rd, captain Tommy Kelley in 6th, Alex Turner in 8th and Derek Howes in 12th.
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| And they're off! |
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On Wednesday September 18th, the Rockets traveled to Brookline for a dual meet against the Warriors. Brookline has historically been a tough match up for the boys team as Needham has not beaten the powerhouse Warrior team in over a decade. Again Khalaj led the way for the Rockets with Amaya still on the sidelines but this time he was joined by Benner. The two underclassmen worked well with each other matching Brookline's Emmanuel D'Agostino until the very end. D'Agostino managed to break free from the Rocket tandem finishing the 2.78 mile course at Larz Anderson in 15:44. Khalaj was 2nd in 15:47 and Benner held on for 3rd in 15:53. Liam Walsh in his first race of the season finished third for the Rockets and 6th overall, one place ahead of Kelley. Alex Elman closed out the scoring finishing in 12th place. The meet was hotly contested but in the end, Brookline pulled out the win scoring 27 points to Needham's 30.
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| John Benner and Drew Khalaj push the pace. |
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| Tommy Kelley and Liam Walsh apply pressure to a Brookline runner. |
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The Brookline girls were no match for Needham as the Rockets defeated the Warriors 20-35. Again, Cullen and Armstrong led the way finishing in 1st and 2nd respectively followed by Sammy Lerner and Corkery in 4th and 5th, with Hughes placing 8th. With Wednesday's win, the Lady Rockets move to 3-0 on the season and hope to continue their undefeated streak this week against Newton North and Walpole.
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| Needham packing it up against Brookline. |
Full results can be found at:
http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/School.aspx?SchoolID=19349.
Photos courtesy of Kim Benner
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