On Saturday, 20 Andover Girls Cross Country runners traveled to the Manchester Invitational in New Hampshire for the team’s season opener. The team raced in the JV-C 2.1 mile and the Large School Varsity five kilometer races. The Manchester Invitational course is notorious for its hills, but the team rose to the challenges and found success, placing third out of 26 teams.
Chloe Song ’26 described the team’s workout prior to the Invitational to help prepare it for the course’s hills. The extensive practice fostered confidence within teammates on race day.
“And just on Wednesday, we had a hill workout on Ward. We did 1100-meter repeats to get us prepared for Manchester. And I think it definitely helped. We saw the fruits of our labor,” said Song.
The team worked on instilling motivation through friendship, explained Emma Hagstrom ’25. Runners continue to adapt to high-demanding meets and put forth maximum effort.
“We’ve really worked on getting to know each other, getting close to each other, and putting in the work at practice and holding ourselves accountable to make sure we bring our best every single day at practice,” said Hagstrom
This season, Girls Cross Country underwent major coaching changes, notably the loss of previous Head Coach Keri Lambert. With Head Coach Patrick Rielly now leading both boys and girls programs, Hagstrom believes the team has adapted well to the change.
“Coach Reilly is a great coach and he has told us that he’s focused on both the girls and the boys teams fully, and he’s really helped us step up our team even though we have one less coach,” said Hagstrom.
Song echoed her sentiments, describing Lambert’s efforts to stay in touch with the team even in her absence. This served as another form of motivation, bolstering the team’s determination to excel and reinforcing the team’s strong sense of unity.
“We were racing in the spirit of Coach Lambert, the spirit of past GXC teams. Just because Coach Lambert was not there physically with us, she was commenting on Strava. She was commenting on our posts,” Song said.
A new addition to the team, Storrie Kulynych-Irvin ’24 appreciated the support she felt from the boys and the girls team. Placing fourth out of 172 individuals, she credited her teammates for helping her stay consistent with pacing her race.
Kulynych-Irvin said, “Our team atmosphere has been really good, and I feel really welcomed as someone who’s totally new to the team and having to jump right in. I value practicing with the boys and it helps us to be a cohesive team… Right now I definitely feel like it’s working well, and it’s great to have more people to push your workouts always.”
Kulynych-Irvin believes that the team is talented and confident. Looking ahead to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Championships (Interschols), she believes the team’s success will rely heavily on the well-being of each member.
“One of our Varsity runners wasn’t able to compete at Manchester, but we’re hoping to have everybody healthy and ready to go at Interschols. We definitely have a really solid girls team,” Kulynych-Irvin.
Andover Girls Cross Country will race at the Black Bear Invitational in New Hampshire this Saturday.
