WRENTHAM – Ben Rich quickly adjusted to the terrain Saturday at the Wrentham Developmental Center, and that helped the Hamilton-Wenham senior post a winning time of 15:37 in the men’s 5,000-meter race in a photo finish, beating Everett Pacheco of Monument Mountain. by 1.1 seconds for one of the annual Div. titles. 3 cross country championships.

“Last week in my league meet, I fumbled the race in the last mile,” Rich said afterward. “I let someone walk away from me and I wasn’t going to let that happen again. So I trusted myself and made sure I gave it my all until the end, not to lose.”

The divisional championships were divided into three sections, with two races each. Rich recovered on the final lap of the men’s ‘B’ race, before gaining a few feet of separation on the final run down to claim his trophy.

Meanwhile, few schools opened the competition better than Norwell, where runners placed first in each of the ‘A’ races to start the morning. In her first year with the Clippers’ cross country program, freshman star Katherine Murray won the women’s showcase with a time of 18:50.59, while junior John Doherty placed first in the men’s contest (16:11.91). .

“Last year, I was 20th here,” Doherty said. “I really wanted to improve that. This season I have been running well. I’ve raced with a lot of these guys that are here today. “I wanted to come here and show them what I could do.”

Gardner senior Krista Bettez seized her opportunity at the moment by winning the women’s 5,000 meter ‘B’ race with a final time of 18:29.56. A two-sport star (also basketball), Bettez has already received attention from local schools such as UMass (Amherst), UMass (Lowell) and Suffolk University for her running skills. She seeks to maintain her newfound momentum.

“I knew there would be some coaches here,” Bettez said. “I really want to continue running in college, so that motivated me. Plus, I’ve been doing PR all season. So I thought if I keep this up and get better, it would be great for my senior year.”

Oxford’s Cameron Davis made a splash on the ‘C’ stage to cap the afternoon, winning the women’s sprint in a time of 17:53.58. Parker Charter enjoyed a 1-2 finish during the men’s event, as Henry Jacobsen (18:48) and Nathaniel Henshaw (15:58.7) crossed back-to-back.

Norwell claimed the women’s ‘A’ title with a team low score of 78 points. Thanks to back-to-back fifth- and sixth-place finishes, Aarav Mehta (16:33.04) and Ben Tavares (16:34.84) ​​led Weston to the event’s men’s team championship.

Later in the ‘B’ section, Hamilton-Wenham completed the sweep. In addition to Rich’s day, the Generals received a fourth-place finish from James Regan (16:04.54) and a fifth-place finish from Cole Regan (16:15.87), earning team honors with 35 points. In the girls category, Grace Rich (18:34.08) and Asa Labell (19:10.74) also led the school to the title (40 points).

Buoyed by consecutive third and fourth place finishes from Evelyn Wool (18:27.21) and Rosie Bradley (18:42.50), Bromfield was able to claim the women’s ‘C’ title with 87 points. Parker Charter earned the boys ‘C’ honor (25 points).

Originally Posted: November 9, 2024 at 6:35 pm EST