When Lexi Casey, Jessica Gendreau, and Makenna Hunt take their place on the starting line before a race, the three sometimes receive a few cockeyed looks from their foes.
The trio of Tyngsborough middle schoolers, each 13, compete with varsity athletes who are a head taller and a handful of years older on a regular basis. And they often beat them easily.
“When you’re at the start it looks scary, because everybody’s so tall and they all look so intimidating,” admitted Casey, who is 4 feet, 10 inches tall.
“But then you start and it’s all fine.”
“They think little of us,” said the 5-foot-1 Hunt of competitors. “They underestimate us because of our height and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, those girls are just in like seventh grade,’ while they’re seniors in high school . . . and then we go out and beat them in a race.”