Ten Girls To Watch This Upcoming Cross Country Season


Emily Boutin of Pope Francis finishes 3rd in the Two Mile at the MIAA Division 5 Championships with a time of 10:56.04 (personal record).  Video by Jason Byrne.

1. Tessa McClain of Bromfield School

        McClain is a rising senior of Bromfield School whose 2018 Cross Country season was highlighted by a first place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional Open Girls race alongside a 10th place finish at the MIAA All State Finals in the Division 2 race.  McClain's fasted 5K of the 2018 season was a 19:19.00 at the MIAA Central Division Championships. McClain did exception during the 2019 Outdoor Track & Field season with a 5:00.10 - ranking 2nd among returning Outdoor Track & Field One Mile runners. Looking to translate her Outdoor Track leading performances to Cross Country, McClain looks to be one of Massachusetts' favorites this upcoming season.

2. Molly Lashley of Whitinsville Christian

        The top performing Freshmen of the 2018 Cross Country season, Lashley's season was highlighted by a personal record of 18:38.50 alongside a 2nd place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional Freshmen-Sophomore race. She also ran a personal best Indoor Two Mile of 11:25.51 with an Outdoor One Mile personal best of 5:26.74. Keep an eye out for Lashley to see if she can continue leading the class of 2022 time charts and challenge the top high school runners.  

3. Meg Madison of Winsor School

        A rising 8th grade runner from Winsor School, Meg Madison took high school running by storm when she was in 7th grade last season with a 5K time of 19:01.00 at the NEPSTA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS. Madison did not compete in high school level Indoor nor Outdoor Track & Field last season so it will be intriguing to see what sort of times Madison run this upcoming season.

4. Emma Naddolski of Nipmuc Regional High School

        Naddolski, another Middle School runner during the 2018 Cross Country season, highlighted her 2018 Cross Country season with a 9th place finish at the MIAA Central Division Championships meet, finishing in a time of 19:34.00. Heading into her Freshman season this year, Naddolski comes off the momentum of a successful 2019 Outdoor Track & Field season, including a personal best One Mile time of 5:40.85. Make sure to keep an eye on Naddolski as she leads the charge of incoming Freshmen runners.

        Coming off of her 2018 Cross Country season where she ran a personal best 5K of 18:19.00, Boutin is one of the favorites going into the 2019 season. Boutin won the MIAA Western Division Championships race - where she ran her personal best - and went on to finish 6th in the Division 2 race at the MIAA All State Finals. Boutin had a great 2019 Outdoor Track & Field season as well, highlighted by  a 5:04.88 One Mile and a 10:55.48 3200 meter performances. With a lot of momentum heading into this fall, Boutin is sure to be one of Massachusetts' top girls 5K runners this season.
        After a successful Sophomore season of running, Kate Connolly is looking to improve upon her own times while chasing down her sister's, Grace Connolly, times. Connolly ran her best 5K time of the 2018 season at the Brown Northeast Invitational where she ran 18:04.86. Connolly's 2019 Indoor Track & Field season highlights her Sophomore year with her best performances being a 5:01.78 One Mile time at the 
BSC #6 meet and her Two Mile personal record of 10:49.68 - giving her 4th place at the MIAA Auerbach All State Championships. Connolly is an athlete to watch out for this year not only on the state level, but also on a national scale.
        Kerimo had a successful 2018 Cross Country season, with stellar performances at the MIAA All States Finals in the division 1 race, where she took home 5th place, alongside a first place finish at the Bob McIntyre Twilight Invitational, where she ran a personal record 5K of 18:14.70. Kerimo also had an impressive Outdoor Track & Field season, running personal bests in the One Mile (5:01.14) and the 1500 meters (4:35.79). Now heading into her Junior year, Kerimo is one of the most threatening runners in Massachusetts.
        The jack of all trades runner on our list, Paige is topping sprinting and middle distance time charts during the track seasons while also showing impressive Cross Country results. Paige's Sophomore season of Cross Country included a 7th place performance in the division 1 race at the MIAA All States Final alongside a personal record 5K of 18:01.27. Paige made noise nationally during the 2019 Outdoor Track & Field season where she finished third in the 800m at New Balance Nationals Outdoor with a time of 2:06.27. On top of that, Paige ran impressive personal bests in the 200m (26.21), 400m (56.09) and 400mH (1:01.61) showing that she can be dominate at any distance. 
        A rising Junior this year, Mcmahon is coming off of a short Outdoor Track & Field season highlighted by first place finish in the Two Mile (11:35.75) at the MSTCA Freshman/Sophomore Meet - Small & Large School. Mcmahon's Indoor Track & Field season was much more eventful (pun intended) with her running everything from a 44.32 300m and 60.94 400m to a 7th place Two Mile performance (10:57.08) at the MIAA Auerbach All State Championships. With an equally impressive 2018 Cross Country season, highlighted by an 18:21.33 personal record, Mcmahon is one to watch this upcoming season. 
        After an impressive Junior year for Hopkinton High School, Gooley is heading into her final season of Cross Country already having established herself as one of Massachusetts' bests. With the fastest Cross Country 5K performance on this list (17:49.22) that ranks only behind Deerfield Academy's Victoria Patterson, Massachusetts looks to be chasing Gooley this fall. She continued to impress during her most recent season of Outdoor, including a 5:00.86 One Mile performance at the Weston Twilight meet and a 2:16.04 800 meter performance at the Battle Roads TC Twilight Meet #4. Make sure to watch out for Gooley this upcoming season.