A Win WIn

The Kent School course is one of the most scenic and challenging in the league, with soft field paths leading to steep, rock-strewn trails. With a healthy crowd of spectators due to Kent’s Parents Weekend, the Martlets came ready to compete. Although a few Kent boys jumped to a lead at 200m in order to block the narrow trail, Westminster’s captains, Emmett de Kanter ‘19 and Teagan Stedman ‘18 would not be denied, and both had established commanding leads by ⅓ of a mile into the race. De Kanter went on to set a course record on this newly established 5K course; Stedman took second; and Kieran Haug ‘21 came in third to lock in the team victory for the Martlets. Kent took the next spot, followed by four more Westminster runners. Daniel Pinckney ‘20 was especially tough in the final mile to take fourth for the team, followed by Elliott Kennard ‘19, Daniel Chey ‘18 and, for his first First Team finish of the season, John Kuzminskas ‘18. When we last raced here two years ago when it was a shorter course, only three Westminster runners broke 20 minutes; this year, the top six broke that mark. The Second Team took the top five spots against a large field of 80 runners from the three schools. Led by surging Will Rizzo ‘21 and steady Connor Seeley ‘18, the Westminster pack outpaced a lot of blue- and red-clad opponents in the final mile to own the Second Team competition. Other scoring runners today were Andrew Doucette ’18, Alex Ellis ‘20 and Ryan Szykowny ‘18. James Manderlink ‘21, a newcomer who has also been looking great in practice, moved into the first displaced spot and #13 on the team with a tough-minded race.