Div. 3 cross country: Hamilton-Wenham, Weston pull off sweeps

NORTHFIELD — Two weeks ago, Hamilton-Wenham cross country coach Steve Sawyer brought his teams for an excursion to Northfield Mountain. Why?

For research.

Let’s just say the trip ultimately panned out well. Thanks to the Rich siblings, the Generals were able to make history. Grace Rich placed first in the girls’ 5K race with a time of 20:10.18, while her brother Ben placed sixth in the boys’ race (16:48.51), as Hamilton-Wenham took home a pair of MIAA Div. 3B titles Saturday.

“I told somebody the other day that we were in the mix,” Sawyer said afterward. “You never know with a course like this. A lot of kids burn themselves out on the hill. I told my kids: ‘Be careful on the hill. The race starts at the top of the hill.’ I knew on paper, we were competitive. I never would have called a 1-2-3 by my girls. That came out of nowhere, but I knew we would be at the top. I knew we’d have four or five runners in the top-15, we ended up with four. So, we’re all very pleased.”

Hamilton-Wenham dominated the Div. 3B girls race, with Rich placing first. Meanwhile, teammates Asa Labell (20:17.62) and Charlotte Madden (20:27.61) followed in second and third. The Generals finished with the top score of 73 points. It was the first title for the program since 2014.

“I was trying to not go too hard on the hill,” Grace Rich said. “I was just trying to stay with the girl in front of me. Once we got to the (downturn), I was just using the hill (to my advantage).”

Meanwhile, the Generals had four athletes finish in the top-15 during the boys’ race, as Rich, James Regan (17:01.73), Clark Glidden (17:49.18) and Cole Regan (17:52.21) paced their squad to a victory.

“I’m excited that we were able to (win) it,” Rich said. “I ran one of my best races of the season today. So yeah, it feels really good.”

In a similar fashion to Hamilton-Wenham, Weston swept the boys and the girls Div. 3A meets, finishing with 53 and 82 points, respectively. The Wildcats were carried by Chloe Schiller (21:19.50), who placed 10th in the girls race.

Parker Charter coasted to a Div. 3C crown behind a one-two finish from Henry Jacobsen (16:29.49) and Caleb Hatlevig (16:43.51). Bromfield would go on to clinch the Div. 3C girls title.

Among the impressive individual performances from Saturday’s action were Littleton’s Timothy Rank, who placed first in the Div. 3B race with an outstanding time of 15:57.86. Norfolk Aggie standout Madelyn Germain won the girls’ Div. 3A competition with a mark of 19:30.81.

“They executed well,” Sawyer said. “They raced happy, and we had a great day.”

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