Girls Cross Country kicked off its season at the Manchester Invitational, a notoriously difficult course that challenged both newcomers and seasoned runners. Despite facing adverse conditions, including rain and muddy trails, the team united together, laying a strong foundation for the upcoming season.
The meet served as an important starting point for the season. Co-Captain Emma Hagstrom ’25 highlighted the significance of using the race to assess its current performance while encouraging the team to enjoy the experience and learn from it.
“Our biggest goal working into the meet is just getting baseline times for us to improve in. For this meet, although it’s really hard, we were just trying to go out there, have fun, and see what we could all do so we could benchmark for the season and see how we can progress through the season,” said Hagstrom.
The team’s preparation proved as critical in tackling the rough conditions, including a steep incline. Hannah Jung ’28 emphasized how the team’s workouts prepared it for the course.
Jung said, “We worked on starts and interval running, and it helped a lot because we did the interval running in the [Cochran Bird] Sanctuary, which also had a steep hill. It helped prepare me for the harsh terrain at the Manchester meet.”
Conditions at Manchester were particularly challenging, with rain earlier in the day leaving the course soaked and the trails muddy. Chloe Song ’26, explained that the team walked part of the course beforehand to assess the conditions.
Song said, “We walked the woods part of the course, and we realized that it was going to be tough. We knew it was going to be muddy, and it was already raining. Digesting that before the race was pretty crucial for building that sort of prepared mentality for the race and just getting us ready.”
Despite the difficult conditions, the team still delivered impressive performances. Amelia Alvazzi ’26 placed 11th overall with a time of 19:48 in the 5K, which contributed to the team’s 11th place finish as a whole.
“Amelia had a pretty good race. This was her first race with the team ever, so, overall, really proud of her for putting her best foot forward and representing Andover,” said Song.
In the girls Freshman race, Jung finished third overall with a time of 13:40 in the two-mile event. Her feat contributed to the Freshman team achieving a fourth place finish. With many spectators and runners lining the course, the team showcased inclusivity and supportiveness, cheering one another on from during the entirety of the race.
Jung said, “The strengths of the team yesterday was that we all stuck together, and the coaches really emphasized cheering on each other when we were running. So it was a really inclusive environment and I felt like I was being supported throughout the entire race because people were running to all the parts where they could cheer us, and that was really engaging.”
Looking ahead, with its next meet coming up soon, the team plans to focus on building endurance and refining race starts. Hagstrom mentioned her excitement to see how the team progresses this season.
Hagstrom said, “I’m super proud of the team after this race. They showed up, performed well and did really well overall. I’m super excited for what’s to come in the rest of the season.”
Girls Cross Country will compete in the Black Bear Invitational at Coe Brown Academy next Saturday.
Editor’s Note: Kendra Tomala is a Copy Editor for The Phillipian.
