WRENTHAM - Olivia Lantz has already more than proven herself an enormous running talent on the track, courtesy of a 4:57 best in the mile her sophomore year. Now it's time for the Manchester-Essex junior to show her versatility by adding cross country dominance to her resume.
Lantz mastered the Div. 2 Varsity field splendidly at the Frank Kelly Invitational over the 3.1-mile course on the grounds of the Wrentham Developmental Center, running comfortably through a 5:58 first mile and then switching gears the final two miles. Her time of 18:38.9 was the fastest of the day and was 25 seconds in front of runner-up Erin Dietz of Bedford, who finished in 19:13.8. Janaya Randall of Marblehead took the bronze medal with her 19:22.5 to lead her squad to the team championship with 128 points.
Lantz, who is garnering more experience with each race, was content to run within herself the first mile. "I've never run cross country before so my strategy was just to take a hold on the lead," she said.
Like Lantz in the Div. 2 race, Lowell's Kaley Richards turned the Div. 1 event into a rout as well. The sophomore left the field behind at the gun and traversed the rolling, grassy layout in 19:01.9. Richards' teammate, Alexandra Richards sprinted away from the pack to take second in 19:24.4. Riley Gilmore of Haverhill ran well to take third in 19:28.4.
Lowell was an easy winner in the team competition with 65 points and Peabody clinched second with 109 points. Wellesley put up 144 points for third.
Richards didn't let the field or the warm afternoon temperature distract her from her plan of running hard from the start. She felt strong from the gun and had the fastest first mile of her career in 5:58.
"I wanted to do my best and not leave anything there," she said. "I ran strong and that really helped. I felt really, really good today. I've never gone out that fast before. I could feel the heat, but it didn't bothere me. If there's someone in front of me I alwasys try to outkick them."
Westford Academy's Claire Widmann had a goal of finishing somewhere in the top 25 and earning a medal in the Div. 1 Freshman race. She did that in grand style, passing the mile in 5:54 and pulling away to an easy 11:31.5 victory. Leanne Galanek of Plymouth North was second in 11:59 and Gabrielle Vandendries of Brookline pushed for third place with her 12:12.8.
Even with her huge lead, Widmann continued to push, believing someone was just meters back.
"I heard people cheering so I knew someone was there," Widmann said. "I just wanted to get in the top 25. I didn't think I had a chance to win."
Wayland's Sarah Tully sprinted across the finish line in the Div. 2 Freshman and was all smiles and was surprisingly fresh as after her dominating 11:43.1 win. Tully, who is the team's No. 1 harrier, relished the change of pace of running against a freshman-only field.
"I was running slower than I normally would so I just started running on my own," said Tully. "It was nice running against girls my own age."
Her time was well ahead of Lauren Polimeno of Tewksbury, who claimed second in 12:13.2. Veronica Seguin of Arlington Catholic was third in 12:17.1.
Tully had no problem biding her time early before taking the lead.
"I stuck with the lead pack for the first mile and felt good after that so I just took off and ran my own race," she said. "I thought I had it at the mile. People started shouthing out that I had a pretty good lead."