Emma Hagstrom ’25 and Storrie Kulynych-Irvin ’24 finished second and third individually against Exeter.
Fifteen team members ran personal records in the 2023 Andover/Exeter race.
Saturday 11/4 – Andover: 28, Exeter: 29
Andover Girls Cross Country secured its first Andover/Exeter (A/E) win in five years on Saturday, narrowly defeating Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter) by one point. Fifteen team members ran to personal records in the annual rivalry, which precedes the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Championships (Interschols).
The team’s top five runners clocked an average time of 19:45. Lily Williamson ’25 discussed the race strategy that propelled the team to success. She highlighted how the team’s energy-conservation tactics and the team’s rigorous training were instrumental in securing the victory.
Williamson said, “We were very focused on finding tangents throughout the course, trying to cut down the distance that we had to run as much as possible. We had focused a lot throughout the week on starts and finishes and how to start the race without gassing out completely, as well as finishing the race strong and taking it at the end.”
The team held a home-course advantage in this race. The team’s familiarity with the nuances of the course strengthened its tactics, allowing runners to focus on the specific parts of the course where they could take advantage of Exeter.
“Using the turf that we practice on, as well as where we compete, means that we knew where we needed to conserve our energy, where it was sort of time to bring up the speed, where it was important to stay locked in, stay focused,” Williamson said.
Fourth-place individual finisher Anya Budzinski ’26 attributed the team’s success in part to rigorous training before the race.
Budzinski said, “We’ve all been running since the summer, every day, miles and miles since the summer, and I think that it really all came together yesterday.”
Williamson emphasized Captain Patricia Tran ’24’s skill in inspiring the team, encouraging each member to prioritize not only their own performances, but also their teammates. Williamson also described the team’s pre-race tradition that helped foster team camaraderie.
“Mentally, our Captain, Patty or Patricia, emphasizes before every meet that you’re racing for someone who’s either injured or couldn’t race or someone who just sort of impacted you greatly throughout the week. And so doing our pre-meet traditions on Fridays, we’ll do a course run-through, very easy. And then we’ll meet at the steps of [Samuel Phillips Hall] for strides and a team cheer. It sort of was great to talk about our concerns for the meet and emphasize how we felt before our big A/E,” said Williamson.
The race against Exeter was not only a testament to individual performances but also to the collective spirit of the team. Budzinski highlighted the performances of frontrunners Emma Hagstrom ’25 and Storrie Kulynych-Irvin ’24, who ran the eighth- and ninth-fastest times of all time on Andover’s course, respectively.
Budzinski said, “[Emma Hagstrom] ran a really, really strong race and ran from the front most of the race. She did unfortunately get [passed] at the end, but she did amazing. She [beat her personal record] by almost a minute.”
The team intends to save their energy for the season’s conclusion with hopes of success at Interschols.
“We have our biggest meet coming up this weekend, which is Interschols…which we’re super excited about. This week, we’re definitely gonna have a focus on recovery. We [have to] make sure our legs are super fresh because if [we] run too much, we’ll be tired,” said Budzinski.
Budzinski continued, “I’m just super proud of everyone on the team. We’ve been working so hard. Every day we go to practice and work super hard together and it was just great to see everyone go out on the course, give their best effort and get great results.”
Andover Girls Cross Country will compete at Interschols on Saturday at Loomis.
