Division 3 Cross Country Sectional Championships: Twice as Nice for Hamilton-Wenham; Parker Charter Keeps Rolling; Norwell Runners Sweep

One school secured team championships in both the girls and boys races in their division, and a second school had a pair of individual winners. Another continued its dominant run of the past several seasons.

The top seven teams, plus the top 10 individual runners not on any of those teams, qualified for the Division 3 State Championship meet on Saturday, November 16 at Devens. In addition, two wild card teams were chosen based on the cumulative times of their five best finishers.

Here is a recap, in the order the races were run:

Division 3A Girls

Katherine Murray posted the winning time of 18 minutes, 50.59 seconds and led the way for Norwell High School to also bring home the team championship.

Behind Murray’s effort, the Clippers posted 78 points to top the team standings, with Greater Lowell Tech as the runner-up (108).

While Murray was Norwell’s only top-10 finisher, Audrey Birtwell placed 12th overall and the Clippers added solid finishes from Hadley Amon (15th, 20:15.0) and Hallie Robitaille (17th, 20:22.1).

Annabelle Averett of Swampscott High School was second overall (18:53.37), with Gabrielle Holdsworth of East Bridgewater High School (3rd, 19:13.53), Jessica Bourne of Weston High School (4th, 19:18.45) and Teagan Galvagni of Greater Lowell (5th, 19:20.77) also in the top five.

Dennis-Yarmouth Regional took third among teams (181), followed by Seekonk High School (182), Triton Regional High School (205), Norfolk County Agricultural (219) and Weston (236).

Division 3A Boys

Weston High School placed a pair of runners in the top six overall to pave the way to the team championship.

John Doherty of Norwell High School took home the individual championship in a time of 16:11.91, with Cassidy McBee of Triton Regional High School as the runner-up (16:22.59).

Aarav Mehta was the top finisher for the Wildcats in fifth place (16:33.04), followed closely by teammate Ben Tavares in sixth (16:34.84). That helped Weston to a team total of 70, with Greater Lowell Tech in second place (82).

Andrew Klinedinst of Hudson High School placed third individually (16:26.68), with Simon Brown of Swampscott High School in fourth place (16:32.9).

The remaining team qualifiers were Swampscott (156), Hudson (165), Norwell (185), Triton (197) and Belchertown High School (203).

Division 3B Girls

Krista Bettez of Gardner High School cruised home with the winning time of 18:29.56, outkicking runner-up Grace Rich of Hamilton-Wenham Regional (18:34.08).

But Rich, who was the 3B champion in 2023, helped spark the team championship for the Generals, who finished with 40 points. Asa Labell added a fifth-place finish for H-W (19:10.74) and Charlotte Madden was eighth (19:21.02).

Amelia Desilets of Monument Mountain Regional took third place individually (18:45.05), followed by Katie Massey of Advanced Math & Science Charter in fourth (18:49.56).

Hampshire Regional was the runner-up in the team standings (102). The remaining State Championship qualifiers were Advanced Math & Science (111), Monument Mountain (119), Sturgis Charter School East (163), Gardner (179) and Tyngsborough High School (190).

Division 3B Boys

Ben Rich led a parade of three Hamilton-Wenham runners among the top five finishers, and the Generals also ran away with the team championship after also winning in 2023.

Rich’s winning time of 15:36.96 was a little more than a second in front of runner-up Everett Pacheco of Monument Mountain Regional (15:38.03). Not too far back were the Hamilton-Wenham tandem of James Regan in fourth place (16:04.54) and Cole Regan in fifth place (16:15.87).

With their 35 team points, the Generals were well ahead of runner-up Hampshire Regional (101), with Frontier Regional School (117) in third place.

The other top five individual finisher was Evan Hedlund of Frontier, who took third (15:56.99).

Teams in the 4-7 spots were Littleton High School (192), Wahconah Regional (193), Uxbridge High School (266) and Southwick Regional (271).

Division 3C Girls

Cameron Davis of Oxford High School repeated her individual championship from 2023, finishing in 17:53.58 to add another gold to her list of accomplishments.

Bromfield School also repeated as team champion, compiling 87 points to just edge out runner-up Mount Greylock School (94). Leading the Trojans to the win were Evelyn Wool in third place (18:27.21) and Rosie Bradley in fourth (18:42.5).

Emma Genovese of Millis High School placed second individually in 18:24.36. Rounding out the top five was Annabella Lamoreaux of Sutton High School (19:27.76).

Lenox Memorial High School took third place as a team (130), followed by Hopedale High School (166), Parker Charter Essentials School (170), Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter (185), and Mohawk Trail Regional (209).

Division 3C Boys

Henry Jacobsen and Parker Charter continued their dominance of the wave, each repeating as champion in their respective categories.

Jacobsen crossed the finish line in 15:47.98, more than 10 seconds ahead of runner-up and teammate Nathaniel Henshaw (15:58.63). Combined with strong showings from Danny Garrison (5th, 16:22.33) and Cypress Lance (6th, 16:24.33), Parker Charter posted a dominant team score of 25 to overwhelm the competition.

Ben McWaters of Bromfield placed third (16:13.55) and Rafa Mello-Bartels was fourth (16:15.23).

The closest team competitor to Parker was Bromfield, which took the runner-up trophy (82). Mount Greylock placed third (92), followed by Lenox (139), Hopedale (152), Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion (211) and Maynard High School (244).