WRENTHAM — The North Reading High School Cross Country teams finished off their CAL schedule by competing at the CAL Open last Saturday afternoon at the Wrentham Developmental Center. The Hornets had tremendous performances across the board and left the facility with some hardware, as junior Quinlan Kelly and sophomores Riley MacDonald and Adelyn Kelly finished in the top 15 of the girls’ varsity race, earning them the honor of a CAL All Star.
The girls’ team took 4th overall with a team total score of 133. Hamilton-Wenham were the league Open champions with a total team score of 23.
Quinlan Kelly was the first Hornet to finish as she took 13th overall in a time of 20:59.11. Right behind her was MacDonald in 14th place in a time of 21:12.57 and Adelyn Kelly was 15th in a time of 21:15.74.
Sophomore Gabrielle Montanye was 45th overall in a time of 24:24.47, freshman Chloe DeAngelis was 53rd in a time of 24.55.98, senior co-captain Vanessa Steinmeyer was 57th overall in a time of 25:27.73 and senior Cybele Miller finished in a place of 62nd overall in a time of 26:47.16.
In the girls’ junior varsity race, 8th graders Ruby Davidson (23rd, 26:54.21), Verity Modeen (24th, 26:54.35) and Reki Bergen-Aki (51st, 32:46.77) rounded out the Hornet competitors with great races of their own.
“This is a huge day for our program,” said Hornets head coach Ryan Spinney. “Every single athlete ran their best races to this point in the season today. To have three CAL All Stars is absolutely tremendous and a first for our team. We really made a statement today that we will be pushing up the ranks in the CAL for years to come. We could not be prouder of the efforts of these athletes.”
On the boys’ side, sophomore Nalo Benedict was the top Hornet competitor as he took 20th overall in a time of 18:11.67. The Hornets as a team placed 10th overall with a team score of 231. Hamilton-Wenham was the CAL Open Champion with a team score of 22 points.
Senior Alex Mitasev (31st, 18:46.49), sophomore Connor Abruzzese (50th, 19:50.08) senior Dawson Duffley (65th, 20.55.04), senior Aidan Kennedy (67th, 21:04.26), sophomore Jacob Ye (68th, 21:15.01) and freshman Charlie Sarno (69th, 21:16.72) rounded out the Hornet competitors in the varsity race.
In the boys’ junior varsity race, 8th grader Dominic Spada had a tremendous race as he placed 8th in a time of 20:07.17. Spada was followed by freshman Cole Donohue (38th, 21:57.38), senior Michael Mahoney (64th, 24:51.66), freshman Nathan Curtice (68th, 25:35.30) and senior Aidan Seaman (75th, 27:56.58).
“The score will not reflect it as much as it should but we ran extremely well today,” said Spinney. “We had everyone step up and run strong, solid races. We certainly are proud of the way we competed in a league with very tough competition.”
The Hornets now set their sights on the MIAA Division 3A State Championship which will take place on Saturday, Nov. 9 back in Wrentham.
