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| NHS girls cross country win first divisional title in program history! |
The Rockets got off to a great start with an individual win from Margie Cullen. The sophomore claimed her second consecutive divisional crown by outlasting her competition over the 5K race distance. Cullen along with Sydney Clary of LS, Emily Bryson of North Quincy, Sarah Lagan of Natick and teammate Sarah Armstrong dominated the early stages of the race passing the 1 mile mark in 5:50. By halfway, Cullen and Clary had extricated themselves from the field and Cullen began to really push the pace. Surging on a gradual uphill in the final 400 meters, Cullen dropped her opponent and sprinted away from Clary as she arrived at the finish line victorious in 18:00.2. Armstrong hung on to finish 5th in 18:40.5.
Meanwhile first year Needham harrier Kaleigh Hughes was locked in battle with three of Lincoln-Sudbury's finest: Ariel Keklak (sister of Massachusetts standout Andrea Keklak), Morgan Butler and freshman phenom Alexa Babick. Despite a valiant effort from Hughes she couldn't shake the tenacious trio as they got the best of her going into the chute. Hughes finished 12th running a PR of 18:56.5. But the Rockets weren't to be outdone as they called on their depth with Julianna Donovan and Sammy Lerner placing 19th and 20th respectively. At this point, Needham had all five of their scorers in and LS was lacking their fifth but the score through 4 was LS with 30 to Needham with 37. Needham's sixth runner Katie Horton came through big as she displaced Lincoln-Sudbury's fifth to finish in 28th place. Rounding out Needham's varsity seven was rookie Maddi Terry. Full results can be found at: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ma/Nov9_MIAAEa_set2.shtml.
Next up for Needham is the MIAA All-State Championship to be held this Saturday November 16th at the Gardner Municipal Golf course. The girls race is scheduled to go off at 1:00 pm.
Photo courtesy of Ken Horton
