Lenox's Sorrentino, Drury's Meehan Take First at Wahconah
DALTON, Mass. -- The Lenox girls cross country team finished in the top six spots Thursday afternoon at Wahconah High School, giving them wins over Hoosac (15-49) and Drury (15-50).
Freshman Maggie Sorrentino took the number one slot finishing with a time of 18 minutes, 43 seconds, she was followed by teammates Emma Jourdain at 18:51, Alice Najimy (19:15), Emily Tibbetts (19:39), Grace Ellrodt (20:45), and Tate Morrison (21:10).
"It feels really good, my teammate Emma [Jourdain], she's amazing and she actually told me to sprint it in at the end. She said 'I'm not feeling it, go go go'," Sorrentino said. "So really just encouraged me the whole way and I couldn't have done it without her."
In their first race of the season, which was hosted at Lenox High School, junior Jourdain took first followed by Sorrentino in the number two slot.
"I had said to somebody that I wouldn't be surprised it Maggie was up there with Emma and that she just throws in a surge or a kick and wins, it was nice and good confidence booster for her and the team," Lenox coach Jeanne Teasdale said. "These girls are each other's cheerleaders, if somebody else goes for it, it's their day and they all stick behind that person."
In the other girls meets, Wahconah defeated Pittsfield 24-31 and Taconic 21-37.
Wahconah's top runner, freshman Gabrielle Orlando, finished in eighth with a time of 21:31 and her sister Danielle finished 10th with a time of 21:34.
For the boys, Drury junior Connor Meehan finished first with a time of 16:38. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils team they didn't not have enough runners to accumulate a team score.
Meehan switched from cleats to running shoes in 2015, deciding to put a hold on soccer to improve his running. So far this season he has been Drury's top competitor and has battled it out with Hoosac Valley's Jared Haley, who finished second Thursday afternoon with a time of 16:51.
"It's a good win for me, Jared and I have had some pretty good races the last two, but I was able to edge him out today," Meehan said. "We were right in it together, but I just had that last kick at the end."
Meehan finished second in their first race of the season, Haley taking first. In their second race, the tides were switched as they were on Thursday, with Meehan taking the number one slot.
"He's learning and obviously he's doing really well, he works hard," Drury coach Jim Buffoni said. "He is our top runner and he's one of the top in the county, he needs to stay healthy and put the time in."
In the other boys meets Lenox beat Hoosac 20-41, Taconic beat Wahconah 20-39 and Pittsfield beat Wahconah 22-37.