THE MELROSE High cross country teams recently celebrated their Senior Nights and are pictured from left: Jaya Karamcheti, Ava Picone, Addie Lawlor, Harrison Lee of the MHS boys team, Marina Carrieri, Lucy Clark and Darby Thompson. (courtesy photo)
Girls’ team dominates Burlington, finish 4-1
Published November 3, 2023
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—As they prime for an appearance at the MIAA Div. 2A state Final, the Melrose High girls’ cross-country team is coming off two straight league wins over Wilmington and Burlington that has them finishing their regular season 4-1, another excellent Middlesex Freedom League showing. They also competed strongly on Monday at a rain-soaked Middlesex League Meet at Woburn Country Club, and in the next two weeks will compete among the best at the Frank Mooney Coaches Invitational and the Div. 2A State Finals, where they are ranked second. All in all, November is primed to be busy for Coach Nick Tuccinardi’s squad.
On Oct. 17, at the start of their meet against Wilmington, the team marked Senior Night and honored their 6 seniors: Jaya Karamcheti, Ava Picone, Addie Lawlor, Marina Carrieri, Lucy Clark and Darby Thompson. It was a fantastic and close meet, and Melrose’s strong top-10 placements overcame the Wildcats top #1 and #2 finishes. Despite giving up the first two spots Melrose saw 3rd and 4th spots clinched by Naomi Braey and Darby Thompson, followed by a collective effort from Maizie Frakt, Addie Lawlor, Ella Ugino, Kensington Ludlum and Violeta Rechea in the top 10 that earned enough points to edge Wilmington, 31-28.
A week later, Melrose traveled to Burlington for key meet and simply swept the Red Devils. It was another strong effort from Naomi Braey, who placed first for Melrose and continued her strong season. She was followed in order by Darby Thompson, Addie Lawlor, Maizie Frakt, Ella Ugino, Kensington Ludlum, Violeta Rechea, Teagan Altman and Ava Picone. “Naomi has continued developing into a fantastic runner,” says coach Nick Tuccinardi. “She is only a sophomore but is already a leader on the team in attitude, work ethic, and performance.”
And while the team was able to celebrate their upperclassmen at the recent Senior Day event, Tuccinardi notes that some youth on the team has flourished this season too. “Over the past few weeks, PRs or personal records have been falling like the leaves. The team is really hitting their stride at the right time for championship season.”
There have been milestones worth celebrating, according to the coach. “Violeta Rechea has done something unheard of in running and has set a PR in four consecutive weeks. Maizie Frakt has returned to form after an injury plagued season last year.”
Some nice developments came out of their appearance at the 2023 Middlesex League Meet. Melrose saw Addie Lawlor represent the team’s best finish. “Addie ran the best meet of her career, a hard-earned time that came after not running for nearly the first month of the season with injury/sickness.”
It’s going to be a full-team effort they’ll rely on when they compete among the state’s best at the Frank Moony Coaches Invitational this weekend. After that they will compete at Div. 2A States that will take place on Nov. 11.
