MIAA Girls All State Championships
It’s never easy to defend a state title. Throw in the fact that things aren’t going quite as well during the course of the season and the ability to win becomes even tougher.
Needham High had a number of its runner bitten by the injury bug this fall, leaving head coach Cara Van Cott and her staff a little skeptical about the possibility of repeating as champions.
But that all changed last weekend when the Rockets handily defeated Lincoln Sudbury by 42 points to win their second straight Division 2 crown at the Eastern Massachusetts Championship.
“I think last week for the girls was more of a relief,” Van Cott said. “They were relieved to know that they could do it. Certainly, it was a pretty decisive victory last week. I think that helped with their confidence.”
On a crisp afternoon at Saturday’s MIAA All State Finals, Needham’s confidence was evident with a performance that mirrored last week’s class title. With three of their runners among the first 12 finishers, the Rockets secured another Div. 1 title with a runaway 58-117 victory over second-place Bishop Feehan at Franklin Park. Lincoln-Sudbury was third with 128 points.
“We were excited about the opportunity to win another state championship, but we certainly didn’t not think it would be by that much,” Van Cott admitted. “We thought it was going to be a close race. You never take your competition too lightly and we were thinking that Lincoln-Sudbury and Bishop Feehan would be in the mix. The girls prepared, figuring it was going to be a close meet. They surprised a lot of people today. They ran unbelievable last week and had a lot of great moments to carry into today and went out and did it again. It was a true team effort because all seven girls really ran their best races of the season today.”
In a somewhat of an upset, defending champion Kaley Richards of Lowell copped the individual title with a time of 18:16. She edged top-seed, Lincoln-Sudbury senior Ariel Keklak, by two seconds. Junior teammate Margie Cullen (18:23) and Sarah Armstrong (18:45) led the Rockets by placing third and sixth, respectively. Finishing out the scoring for Neeham was senior Kaleigh Hughes (12th, 19:06), junior Daniella Pascucci (27th, 19:31) and junior Julianna Donovan (38th, 19:43).
“Midseason, I think all of the coaches and the girls were feeling a little frustrated and wondering how it was all going to play out,” Van Cott said. “It’s a testament to the girls with their work ethic and training and dedication to their team, how everything played out today.”
Lowell’s Richards, who was ranked seventh among the competitors on the line, was emotional after her victory. She took charge over the talented field with about a half-mile remaining.
“I don’t want to say I was negative but when there are six people that have run faster than you it scares you. Ariel ran 17:48 and I have never even broke 18 (minutes) so that’s really scary,” Richards said. “Something just told me to go. I just told myself to go that last half mile. I am so happy but so scared at the same time.”
A sizable pack that included Richards, Keklak, Cullen and North Quincy senior Emily Bryson (fourth, 18:30) went through the opening mile around 5:45. Richards tried to handle some of the front-running duties during the early stages of the race, but had difficulty trying to take over.
“I just couldn’t get in the front. We were always just cutting each other off,” she said. “There’s mud everywhere and you just have to be careful. The group of people I ran with are all so competitive and so talented. Last year at all states it wasn’t like that at all. I don’t know if it’s because the course was harder or everyone just go so much better and improved and stuff. It was really competitive today.”
“I like running with the pack, maybe not that many girls,” she continued. “It’s just so tight, the turns, everything. And when someone goes, everybody goes. If you are not going, you are going to get pushed behind. I like having the competition, but that was tough.”
Richards admitted that this year’s victory felt much sweeter than 2013. In last year’s meet at Gardner Municipal Golf Course, former Bishop Feehan standout Abbie McNulty was the overwhelming favorite, but collapsed midway into the race due to a fast, early pace thus opening the door for runners like Richards to win the crown.
“I think this year I am happier because last year everyone knew that Abbie fell down. I would never consider I could beat her in that race,” she said. “I think this year I earned it. I deserved it. I’m happy.”
With its five scoring runners separated by 51 seconds, Hamilton-Wenham Regional copped the Div. 2 race with a 94-146 decision over runner-up Lenox Memorial. Dennis Yarmouth was third with 157 points. Hamilton-Wenham, a convincing victor at last week’s Div. 5 race of the Eastern Mass. Championship, was fueled by a senior Emily Weigand, who was 12th overall with a time of 19:20.
As far as individual honors, that belonged to Bedford senior Erin Dietz, who posted a 24-second victory with her winning effort of 18:19. Manchester Essex senior Olivia Lantz was second at 18:43.
The race was close for the first two-thirds of the race on Franklin Park’s challenging layout. Dietz, a fourth-place finisher at the 2013 meet and the 5K at last spring’s New Balance Outdoor Nationals, forged to the front with about a mile left.
“I wanted to start off nice and relaxed and see how I felt and try and pick it up towards the end of the race,” said the Bedford standout, who passed the mile mark at 5:45. “I didn’t want to go out too hard and not finish well. I thought there was going to be more of a pack but I wasn’t planning on staying behind everyone else so it worked out fine.”
As a team, Bedford placed ninth among the 19 schools.
“I was excited that our team qualified. It’s the first time I think since 1990 or something,” Dietz said. “It’s the first time in a long time. It was amazing to have my team behind me. As a sophomore, I was here by myself. Last year I had Nicole (Maclellan) with me so it’s amazing to have them here with me.”