Sports

Whittall ’14 Wins Races Despite Two Andover Losses

Despite a first-place finish by Ian Whittall ’14 in two races this week, Andover Boys Cross Country failed to run well enough as a team to beat Choate Rosemary Hall on Saturday and St. Paul’s School on Wednesday.

Andover lost 39-21 to Choate and 36-23 to St. Paul’s in its first two dual meets of the season.

Whittall outpaced Choate’s number one runner by just three seconds, crossing the finish line with a remarkable time of 17:25 on Choate’s hilly 5k course.

“Ian Whittall is a tremendous runner with incredible dedication, and his race is a direct result of his hard training,” said Paul McGovern ’15.

Ethan Mactintosh ’15 came in just behind Whittall, finishing in third place overall at Choate.

“The team has been plagued by injuries this year, but a lot of guys have been stepping up for us, including Ethan Macintosh,” McGovern said.

At St. Paul’s, Whittall finished the course in 17:22 for another first place finish, but the rest of the team was not able to build off of his performance.

While the course at St. Paul’s was much flatter than the one at Choate, the rainy and cold conditions were less than ideal.

“Although we didn’t win the varsity race, almost everyone dropped time on St. Paul’s course, and several new runner made their debut performances, namely in the junior varsity race, which our team did win.” He continued, “Even though we didn’t get the results we were looking for, there was significant improvement across the board, improvement which will hopefully continue,” said Co-Captain Connor Fraser ’13.

Next Saturday, Andover will look for its first win of the season at Northfield Mount Hermon.