Southern Worcester County League Championships
Girls Varsity:
For the first time in four years, Shepherd Hill Senior Captain Stella Worters can claim team championship and individual race champion honors. As a freshman, Worters finished second in the individual competition but the Shepherd Hill Rams won the championship meet. As a sophomore she finished second as an individual, but Northbridge was the team champion. As a junior, Worters was an individual champion but Northbridge once again claimed the team title. This year, Shepherd Hill and Worters put it all together as the 9th ranked Rams (26 points) placed four girls in the top five spots to take the team title, doubling up 2nd place Millbury with 53 points and 3rd place Uxbridge (118 points). Worters finished first over the 2.91 mile course while Junior Captain Juleanna Schultz captured third, followed by senior Haley Chamberlain in fourth and Junior Captain Lucy Harmon in fifth. Allison Chevalier secured 13th to seal the win while Emily Thibaud (14th) and her twin sister Valerie (17th) displaced Millbury’s number 5 runner who finished 22nd.
Placing four girls in the top 12 is a significant advantage under most circumstances, however runner up Millbury (53) points, whose top four runners consisted of a freshmen, a senior an 8th grader and a 7th grader, ultimately could not match the strength and depth of Shepherd Hill. Third place Uxbridge, despite losing its number one runner to a recent injury still had the talent and strength to claim 3rd in the 11 team meet.
The individual championship race proved to be less of a sure thing than the team title. After separating from the pack in the first half mile, the veteran Worters and Millbury Freshman, Angie DiDomenica battled back and forth throughout the race. After making a surge to be first into the woods in the final ½ mile of the race, it appeared that youth was going to trump experience, but after emerging from the trails, Worters (17:27) unleashed a strong kick and used her speed and experience to pull away from the talented DiDomenica (17:35) in the final 200 meters to win by 8 seconds. Third place Schultz (18:19) was unchallenged throughout the race and cruised in 45 seconds behind DiDomenica. The tandem of Chamberlain (19:00) and Harmon (19:04) separated from the main pack early on and pushed each other to 4th and 5th places respectively. Leicester Senior Jen Pajer (19:13), Oxford Freshman Julia Carrier (19:15), Millbury Senior Maria DiDomenica (19:50), Millbury 8th grader Alexis Violette (19:52) and Northbridge Senior Callie Hansson (19:53) rounded out the top 10.
Boys Varsity:
The Shepherd Hill boys claimed its fourth title in as many years and a Shepherd Hill runner also captured an individual title for the second consecutive year. Like their female counterparts, the Shepherd Hill boys team dominated the team competition by placing 6 runners in the top 10 to finish with 25 points to take first in the field of 12 teams. Led by Junior Cody Kingman’s first place finish, a trio of seniors Captain Hunter Schultz (3rd), Jason Bangs (6th) and Captain Elijah Fossas (7th) were next, followed closely by sophomore Pat Kobel (8th) and Senior Captain Brendan Pratt (10th). Perhaps more impressive than placing 6 in the top 10 is that the spread between number 1 and 5 runners was only 55 seconds. The battle for the next three spots was intense with only 13 points separating the three teams. Auburn, who had only one runner in the top ten, put their next four runners in the top 20 to snag 2nd with 72 points. Tantastaqua claimed third with 81 points and Uxbridge was fourth with 85.
For the individual honors, Shepherd Hill’s Kingman (15:29) led from wire to wire, but was pushed hard by Uxbridge Senior Brady Phillips (15:33) who put in a strong surge over the final 400 meters to close the gap. Kingman had enough in reserve and with his final kick over the last 200 meters maintained a 4 second gap. Third place Schultz (15:49) was 16 seconds behind, followed 7 seconds later by David Prouty’s Senior Brendan Coughlin (15:56) and Auburn’s Junior Tom Gannon. Freshman Matt Simmons (16:38) of Tantasqua was the only other non Shepherd Hill runner to crack the top 10.
Recap / Photo's Courtesy of Len Harmon
