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Westminster Hosts 62nd Running of NEPSTA Division II Cross Country Championships
The weather cooperated for the 62nd running of the NEPSTA Division II cross country championship Nov. 11 at Westminster School. This year brought 28 teams from 17 New England schools to Westminster’s challenging 5-kilometer course. The field was expected to be an extremely fast one, with several long-standing records on the line, and the results proved to be as exciting as anticipated.
The event included runners from Belmont Hill School, Berkshire School, Brunswick School, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Cushing Academy, Hopkins School, Kent School, Milton Academy, Noble and Greenough School, Salisbury School, Suffield Academy, Tabor Academy, Westminster School, Westover School, Williston-Northampton School, Winsor School and Worcester Academy.
The first race of the day was the First Boys, bringing together the fastest seven runners from each of the participating schools. Two of those runners, the Taye brothers from Cushing Academy, had won the NE USATF 10-kilometer championship the previous weekend, with the winner running a blistering sub-5 minute to beat a field of primarily college athletes. The brothers went through the first mile of the Westminster course in 4:48, but the back hills actually slowed them to a 5:04 pace overall. The time of Ayalew Taye '07, 15:45, was still fast enough to shatter the course record, 16:38, set by Frank DiVittorio from Choate Rosemary Hall in 2002. His brother, Sintayehu, would have also set the course record with his second place run on 16:13; the strong fourth, eleventh and thirteenth place finishes by the next three Cushing runners sealed an impressive team victory for the harriers from Ashburnham. Hopkins and Milton took the second and third team places.
The second race of the day was the First Girls, and exciting back and forth surges occurred throughout the race between last year's winner from Berkshire School, Alison LeTourneau '07, and a crew of Boston-area runners, including two eighth-grade twins from the Winsor School, Kate and Zoe Bulger '11. With 300 meters left in the race, Alison dropped out with breathing difficulties and it became a sprint to the finish for the Bulger twins and a rival runner from Nobles. Kate Bulger ’11 finished first in a time of 20:37, followed by Rhetta Nadas '08 from Nobles, and then Zoe Bulger '11 in third. A strong pack of Nobles runners followed Nadas, allowing Nobles to take the first team place, followed by teams from Hopkins and then Winsor.
The host teams did well in this competition, taking fifth in both the first and second boys’ races and sixth in the girls’ race. Westminster had several runners take All-League honors, including co-captains Zane Rooney '07 (6th) and Gavin Zalinger '07 (15th) and Helena Morris '08 (10th). “Most importantly for the coaches, the entire team ran a season best time at either this race or at the Founders League championship the previous Sunday, a season goal for the Westminster squads,” said Westminster cross country coach Mark de Kanter. “It was an excellent conclusion to a great season.”
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The event included runners from Belmont Hill School, Berkshire School, Brunswick School, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Cushing Academy, Hopkins School, Kent School, Milton Academy, Noble and Greenough School, Salisbury School, Suffield Academy, Tabor Academy, Westminster School, Westover School, Williston-Northampton School, Winsor School and Worcester Academy.
The first race of the day was the First Boys, bringing together the fastest seven runners from each of the participating schools. Two of those runners, the Taye brothers from Cushing Academy, had won the NE USATF 10-kilometer championship the previous weekend, with the winner running a blistering sub-5 minute to beat a field of primarily college athletes. The brothers went through the first mile of the Westminster course in 4:48, but the back hills actually slowed them to a 5:04 pace overall. The time of Ayalew Taye '07, 15:45, was still fast enough to shatter the course record, 16:38, set by Frank DiVittorio from Choate Rosemary Hall in 2002. His brother, Sintayehu, would have also set the course record with his second place run on 16:13; the strong fourth, eleventh and thirteenth place finishes by the next three Cushing runners sealed an impressive team victory for the harriers from Ashburnham. Hopkins and Milton took the second and third team places.
The second race of the day was the First Girls, and exciting back and forth surges occurred throughout the race between last year's winner from Berkshire School, Alison LeTourneau '07, and a crew of Boston-area runners, including two eighth-grade twins from the Winsor School, Kate and Zoe Bulger '11. With 300 meters left in the race, Alison dropped out with breathing difficulties and it became a sprint to the finish for the Bulger twins and a rival runner from Nobles. Kate Bulger ’11 finished first in a time of 20:37, followed by Rhetta Nadas '08 from Nobles, and then Zoe Bulger '11 in third. A strong pack of Nobles runners followed Nadas, allowing Nobles to take the first team place, followed by teams from Hopkins and then Winsor.
The host teams did well in this competition, taking fifth in both the first and second boys’ races and sixth in the girls’ race. Westminster had several runners take All-League honors, including co-captains Zane Rooney '07 (6th) and Gavin Zalinger '07 (15th) and Helena Morris '08 (10th). “Most importantly for the coaches, the entire team ran a season best time at either this race or at the Founders League championship the previous Sunday, a season goal for the Westminster squads,” said Westminster cross country coach Mark de Kanter. “It was an excellent conclusion to a great season.”
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