Middlesex had a terrific day of cross country racing at St. Mark's on Friday. Twenty-seven Middlesex girls started and finished the race. We knew the varsity team scores would be very close, and teamwork was the theme of the day for all the Middlesex racers. In the end, that teamwork paid off as the varsity team won all three contests by a narrow margin.
 
The team was led by senior captain Sonia Tremblay and freshman Charlotte O'Toole, who worked together with discipline and determination throughout the 5K course to secure 1st and 2nd place overall. This feat is notable as it is the first time in at least 5 years that Middlesex has taken 1-2 at a quad meet. It is also Sonia's first-ever race win. Taking 1-2 put the team in a great place in the team scoring, but cross country races are really won by the pack rather than the frontrunners, and this race was no exception. Our win over Milton was secured by junior Julia McClellan, who set a solid pace and passed throughout the course, not only for herself, but also for senior Megan Seymour.  Together, the two were able to finish ahead of Milton's fourth runner. The victories over St. Mark's and St. George's were secured by the trio of senior Raphaele Sevrain, sophomore Emily Li, and the newly returned Emily Arnold. These 3, led by Sevrain's decided commitment to go for it for the sake of her team, finished ahead of the St. Mark's and St. George's fifth runner, earning key displacement points for the team score.

In the JV team contest, Middlesex did not yet have the depth to match  the experience and speed of their opponents, but with many runners completing their first race ever, we know we have room for improvement. Alice Crow ran a hugely improved time to lead the JV team, and View Kuphirun, Juliette Bendheim (in her first race ever!), Valerie Chen, and Tess Kelley represented Middlesex well in the team scoring, aided by 6th and 7th runners Maeve Zimmerman (also in her first Mx race!) and Katie Lovell.  Also completing their first races for the zebras were Sophia Corning, Sarah McCluskey, and Christine Lee.  Many runners ran best times, and congratulations are truly owed to the whole team, including those who were not able to run but found a way to support their teammates who could. Particularly notable improvements came from sophomore Lucy Hirsch (again!) and junior Sananda Chintamani.  

The team looks forward to facing a very strong Thayer squad on Saturday on the oldest course in the ISL.