QUINLAN KELLY, pictured at last year’s Div. 3 State Championship with coaches Andrew Falanga and Ryan Spinney, will return to Fort Devens this weekend to compete in the Meet of Champions. (File Photo)
WRENTHAM — Led by the trio of junior Quinlan Kelly and sophomores Adelyn Kelly and Riley MacDonald, the NRHS girls’ cross country team placed 12th overall out of 23 teams in the MIAA Division 3A State Championships held last weekend in Wrentham. Quinlan Kelly paced the Hornets with a 16th place finish in a time of 20:18.9, and that qualifies her for the MIAA Division 3 State Meet of Champions for this upcoming weekend. Adelyn Kelly and MacDonald took 32nd and 33rd, respectively, in times of 21:03 and 21:07.
Freshman Chloe DeAngelis had a breakout race of her own as she finished 91st overall in the time of 23:38.8. Sophomore Gabrielle Montanye, senior co-captain Vanessa Steinmeyer and senior Cybele Miller also had banner races as they finished 115th (24:37.4), 118th (24:47.8) and 133rd (25:27.1) respectively.
“Our girls ran incredibly well today,” said Hornets head coach Ryan Spinney. “Everyone ran strong, confident races and the results speak for themselves. This is a tough division and we were right in the thick of it. We are very proud of their efforts today and all season.”
Sophomore Nalo Benedict led the Hornets in the boys’ race, as he placed 56th overall in a time of 18:04.9. Senior co-captain Alex Mitasev took 94th in a time of 18:59.9 and following him was sophomore Connor Abruzzese who placed 123rd in a time of 19:34.8.
Senior Dawson Duffley (155th, 20:13.7), senior co-Captain Raffi Toby (172nd, 20:41.7), sophomore Jacob Ye (177th, 20:48.7) and senior Aidan Kennedy (185th, 21:15.6) rounded out the Hornet competitors in the race.
“We knew we would need our best race in order to remain competitive today and the boys did that,” said Spinney. “We had our best team race and a lot of season bests. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Quinlan Kelly has one more race this fall at the MIAA Division 3 Meet of Champions at Fort Devens this Saturday. Good luck, Quinlan and congratulations to all cross country runners on a tremendous fall season.
