2016 Central MA Girls XC Individual & Team Preview

The Central Massachusetts region this fall will once again be a hotbed of action between top-notch teams and individuals. In addition to chasing fast times and taking down rival teams, the Central Mass. runners will also be looking to defend their home turf!

Team

The ladies of Shepherd Hill come into fall 2016 with six out of the same seven ladies from last year's dominating squad. They have a terrific 1-2 punch in their sophomore duo of James and Whitehead, while their #3 & #4 runners are not too far behind. The only limiting factor right now for the Lady Rams would be their distant returning 5th and 6th runners, which is not something you want to have at big championship meets. Though it's something that can be remedied with new members of the squad or a summer of quality training. No matter, we still expect Shepherd Hill to roll to another Central Champs D1 team title and try to fight their way into the top 5 at All States. 

While the girl's D1 team race might already be decided, we think the D2 battle will come down to the bitter end. Both Parker Charter and Tyngsborough have strong frontrunners, who are pretty evenly matched entering the start of the season. On paper, Parker Charter has a better #2 and #3 runner, but they also have a very dangerous drop to their returning #4 and #5 runner. If Tyngsborough wants to make it their third-straight team title, the will really need to capitalize on having a very tight 1-5 spread in the post-season. 

 

D2 Girls Virtual Central MA Championship (FULL LIST)

Individual 

Phoebe Von Conta  JR  Parker Charter (D2)

After winning the Central Mass. D2 race by a wide margin in 2015 and finishing runner-up at the All-State Meet, Von Conta will be out to make it a clean sweep this fall. She should be a lock to take the D2 crown in the Central region and is the top returner from the 2015 D2 All-State field. While Von Conta may the top D2 runner on paper, she is not going to be handed the title in a very competitive D2 field. This past spring, we saw Phoebe compete well on the track, but was still off from some her top marks and personal bests. If Von Conta wants to be the best in state and hold off big D2 names from Eastern MA, she will be need bring her A game out from the gates.  

Jamie Falla  JR  Wachusett Regional (D1)

Taking the D1 Central Mass. title and finishing 15th at All-States as sophomore, Jamie Falla should be pretty excited to see what she can do in the coming year. On top of her successful cross country campaign in 2015, Falla also saw strong progression on the track. Over the course of indoor and outdoor, Fall went from11:59 to 11:20 in the 2 Mile and brought her mile PR down to 5:22.8. The success on the track should have a provided a nice jolt of motivation for summer training and approach to the fall of 2016, as she is going to have her hands full with some talented young D2 runners in her region. 

Rebekah James  SO  Shepherd Hill HS (D1)

She may only be a sophomore, but Rebekah James could steal the whole show this fall. As a freshman, James picked up early season victories at the Vineyard Invitational (JV Race), Amherst Invitational (Fresh. Race), and the Larry Bell Race at the Bay State Invitational. During the Championship season, Rebekah kicked things off by finishing 2nd and just two seconds behind Jamie Falla in the Central MA D1 race. A week later in Westfield, James turned some heads by finishing in 8th place overall in the D1 race and now enters 2016 as the fourth-fastest returner. Rebekah was no slouch on the track this past year either and racked up new PRs of 5:17.0 and 11:24.6. While she is only a sophomore and has plenty of racing left in her career, we are expect to see some fireworks from James this season.

Jaylan Fraser-Mines  SR  Tyngsborough HS (D1)

Entering her final season of high school cross country, Jaylan Fraser-Mines has plenty of experience and knowledge to make it the best one of her career. Way back in 2012, Fraser-Mines was a freshman and found herself finishing 3rd at Central MA D1 Champs and then 4th at the All-State Meet. She's had her fair share of ups and downs over the past four years, but it's those tough times that make you a better runner in the long run. Last fall, Jaylan found her stride after a tough 2014 and was always a constant figure in big races. She finished 3rd once again at the Central MA Champs and took 12th overall at the All-State Meet. Having raced on the Gardner golf course many times over the years now, Fraser-Mines be adequately prepared to cap her career off on a high note.

Sophia Masciarelli  JR  Holy Name HS (D2)

She floated under our radars last fall and went on to grab 5th at Central MA Champs and 9th in the D2 All-State Meet race. Masciarelli should be not overlooked this Fall and we suspect she'll vie for the individual win at the Central MA Champs meet, which puts her in the running for a top-5 finish at the All-State Meet. 

Pre-Season Central MA (D1) Rankings (FULL LIST)