After pulling away from the pack in the middle of the race, Michaela Jones ’18 ran across the finish line, well ahead of her competition, to claim first place in Andover Girls Cross Country’s dual-meet against Choate.
With an 18-43 win against Choate in its first dual-meet of the season, Andover Girls Cross Country has a 1-0 record. 16 of the 25 Andover runners ran their best times of the season.
To score cross country races, the placings of a team’s top five runners are combined to form a team score. The team with the lowest score wins. For example, if a team secures the top five spots in a race, its score will be 15, making Andover’s 18-point aggregate score nearley perfect.
Following Jones, Andover’s top racers were newcomer Molly MacQueen ’21 and Alisa Crueger-Cain ’20.
According to Jones, each runner had a positive mentality and never stopped fighting for better times in the race.
New team member Yuping Zhu ’21 said, “Even though I’d never tried [Cross Country] before, everyone is supportive. [My first meet] felt good. Everyone did well and gave a really good performance. All the girls should be very proud of themselves. I think it’ll be an exciting season for all of us.”
One aspect of the team that has affected all the runners from rookies to veterans is the team spirit, according to Zhu.
“It’s very welcoming and a great community to be in, no matter your skill level, The team spirit is really there, and it feels like a family,” said Zhu.
This weekend Andover will face St. Paul’s.
