Girls Continue Dominance, Boys Get a Split Decision.

And the varsity girls are off!

Wednesday September 25th the Rockets traveled to Walpole High School, home of the Rebels, for a double-dual meet against Newton North and Walpole.  Last year the girls meet with Newton North was closely contested with Needham coming out on top 28-29 in a battle for the ages but this year the Rockets methodically dismantled the Tigers from the start running away with the victory 23-33.  The race against the Rebels played second fiddle as the Rockets came out on top with a score of 20-40.

Camille Manoukian runs to a 4th place finish in the girls JV race.

Margie Cullen and Sarah Armstrong, as they have done all season, continued running well together and finished 1-2 in 15:32 and 15:34 for the 2.57 mile course.  Both girls broke the previous course record of 15:44 held by Newton North's Margo Gillis.  Rounding out Needham's varsity seven were Sammy Lerner (6th), Kaleigh Hughes (9th), Julianna Donovan (making her season debut in 10th), Katie Horton (12th) and Maddi Terry (15th).  Camille Manoukian and Haley Filippine ran well in the JV race to finish in 4th and 5th places running 12:51 and 12:56 respectively for the 1.78 mile distance.

The boys meet between Needham and Newton North was a contest of strength up front versus overall depth and the Rockets nearly prevailed dropping a tight race against the Tigers 25-30.  Senior captain Adrian Amaya running in his first meet of the season couldn't quite match the pace of Newton North stalwarts Mike Schlichting and Gabe Montague and finished in 3rd place behind the Tiger duo covering the varsity course in 13:27.  North's third runner crossed the line next ahead of a trio of Rocket runners captain Tommy Kelley, Drew Khalaj and John Benner all of whom were clocked at 13:45.  Next in was North's fourth followed by Needham's Alex Turner in the final scoring spot.  Rockets ran valiantly but in the end couldn't overcome the 1-2 punch of Schlichting and Montague.  The Rebels however were no match for the Rockets as Needham came out on top 19-38.

Alex Turner races to an 11th place finish overall.

In the boys JV race, freshman Matt Mahoney got his first career win finishing in a course record of 9:55 for the 1.78 mile distance.  Behind Mahoney were five other Needham athletes in the top ten; Jacob Anderson (3rd), Alex Caswell (5th), Mike Newfield (8th), Cal Fleming (9th) and Sam Cruickshank (10th).

Matt Mahoney outdistances the competition in the boys JV race en route to victory.

Full results can be found at: http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/School.aspx?SchoolID=19349.

Photos courtesy of Rich Benner and Rebecca Turner