DEVENS — The Hampshire Regional boys and girls cross country teams swept the MIAA Division 3B Divisional championships on Saturday as teams from across the state competed in the Div. 3A-3B-3C championships at Willard Park.
Oscar Shiff was the top finisher for the Raiders in seventh place (17 minutes, five seconds). Hampshire came up short last year in the same competition.
“We weren’t very locked in at the end of the season,” Schiff said. “We didn’t carry the momentum very well. This season we peaked for the right races. It’s really paying off. This year we are hungry for more.”
Owen Cubi placed 10th (17:27.45) for the Raiders.
For the girls, Kathleen Barry placed fourth overall (20:04.82). Brooke Hockenberry was the next Hampshire finisher in 10th place (20:54.07). Ada Corner (20:55.37) and Charlotte Niswonger (21:04.50) were 11th and 12th, respectively.
“I think it was my best race this season,” Barry said. “I focused mentally on being in the right and using positive self-talk. Everyone ran great races.”
Runners dealt with mostly sunny skies and mild temperatures in the 5K race. There was intermittent wind. Teams in the top seven automatically qualify for the MIAA State Meet next week back at Willard Park. Individuals finishing in the top 10 outside of the team qualifiers also get an invitation to the final race of the season.
The end of the race in Division 3B on the boys side was a clean sweep for Frontier Regional as Evan Hedlund finished with a blistering time of 16:20.59. He immediately turned around to cheer his teammate, Luke Howard, who finished in second (16:31.93).
Even with his impressive performance, Hedlund revealed some energy was reserved for next week.
“I definitely wanted to come in and make a statement,” Hedlund said. “You’re not required to win this meet as long as you qualify for next week. But I definitely wanted to win and do as good as I could have. But I also wanted to leave a little bit for next week.”
The friendship between Hedlund and Howard goes back to middle school. Howard is a senior while Hedlund is a junior for the Red Hawks.
“It’s kind of our last chance to race together,” Hedlund said. “I knew he wasn’t too far behind at the end. He was really close. I was really hoping to go one-two. Just really happy and proud.”
Howard had the goal of sticking with his fast teammate.
“That worked out the first two laps,” Howard said.
As Hedlund cheered, Howard had some other issues that had him preoccupied as he finished the race.
“It was great,” Howard said. “I was kind of in so much pain that I didn’t really see it. But it’s great to know that he was there cheering me on.”
The Hampshire Regional boys finished with 77 points while Frontier came in fourth with 170 points. The Hampshire Regional girls topped the overall team scores with 54 points.
Elsewhere, the Frontier Regional girls team also qualified for the state meet with a sixth-place finish in Division 3C. Louise Flagollet finished 22nd for the Red Hawks (21:50.77). Mount Greylock placed first overall with 53 points. Mohawk Trail could be a possible wildcard team in eighth place with 210 points. Easthampton placed 11th (251). Granby and Gateway finished 12th and 13th respectively.
Anya Read placed 17th (21:26.27) for Mohawk. Pioneer Valley Regional’s Harper Hake was not far behind in 24th (21:54.23). Coming in 27th was Virginia Krezmien (22:05.31) for Mohawk Trail. Addison Hill (22:06.02) placed 28th for Granby.
In the boys 3C race Granby’s Trevor Sullivan placed 18th (17:34) while Rex Kuoppala finished 41st (18:28.31) for Mohawk. Parker Charter Essential took the team title with 36 points. Mohawk Trail placed ninth as a team with 281 points. Greenfield placed 13th with 339 points. Easthampton finished 16th overall (487 points) while Gateway placed 20th (535) and Mahar Regional was 24th (671).
The Belchertown boys team secured a bid to the state meet with a sixth-place finish in Division 3A. Cian Lindsay (18:37.84) and Emmett Howard (18:39.24) were 38th and 39th, respectively. Greater Lowell Tech finished first. The Belchertown girls finished 10th overall in Division 3A. Greater Lowell Tech placed first overall. Molly Mazzaferro was the Orioles’ top finisher in 50th (24:49.00).