Girls Cross Country huddle together at the meet.
Girls Cross Country defeated Choate last Saturday in a commanding 43-17 win. The top three finishers all ran for Big Blue: Anya Budzinski ’26, Chloe Song ’26, and Zoe von Eckartsberg ’26, respectively. Seven runners set personal records (PRs) as Andover romped to victory over the Wild Boars.
The team built up its endurance and fitness for the Choate meet, commented Song. She credited her personal best time running the course to the team’s workout.
Song said, “Last week, we did one really iconic distance team hill workout called Boston Hills, and it was very intense, and then the next day, we did Holt Hill for the first time as a team… That really helped with the rolling hills and the big hill on the Choate course. So, we put them to work and we reaped the fruits.”
Budzinski described the energetic atmosphere Andover had built during the race. The Girls team received much praise from Boys Cross Country.
“It was more team oriented since it was smaller than the last one, so there was a lot of really good team energy. During my race, all the boys were on the course cheering for us, so there was a lot of joy and excitement throughout the event,” said Budzinski.
Despite her injury, Captain Emma Hagstrom ’25 showed out for her team. Hannah Jung ’28 commended Hagstrom for her commitment to the team and to guiding them through the course.
“She was there to support us morally. And at one of the very difficult parts in the race, I saw her there, and she was cheering everyone on, which was a very nice thing for her to do… It really showed the community that we have,” said Jung
Song also applauded Head Coach Keri Lambert for her thoughtful email prior to the race. Even though Lambert was unable to attend the meet, Song emphasized how Lambert’s encouragement and reminders stuck with the team throughout the meet.
“She’ll tell us three things to focus on for the meets and during the day. More like what you do outside of the race that will help you lock in better. The first thing she’d tell us is to stay locked in, and the second thing was support, and the third thing was love and joy and the emphasis was focusing on the process in building an excellent race day,” said Song.
Budzinski applauded Ela Budzinski ’28 for her accomplishments in her inaugural race.
Budzinski said, “She scored on Varsity for the first time. This is her first year running cross country. She PRd by over by over a minute, which was really awesome to see her progress and on only her second 5k ever.”
Sharing Song’s sentiments, Jung described the team’s mental practices in lieu of the race.
“We did a few visualization exercises before running. When we were at the starting line as a group. And we like visualized breathing in clean air and exhaling all of our worries and doubts. And that really helped me lock in and focus on the race and the race itself,” said Jung.
Since there were only 30-40 runners on the big course, Song noted the challenges in getting distracted with racing against a smaller number of people.
“You always want to be focused on crossing the finish line, but if you’re thinking about where to go next, it can be annoying and confusing and hurt your performance. So that’s something we can work on is just being a little bit more mindful of sticking in groups and sticking in packs during dual races,” said Song.
As the team embarks on its first home meet, the team has been strategizing the course and visualizing the race.
“Today we did a workout in the [Cochran Bird] Sanctuary, which is about half of the courses in the Sanctuary. And that’s where the two big hills are. So doing a harder effort. The course really helped us to get to know how to best run on that part of the course for the meet this weekend,” said Budzinski.
Girls Cross Country will host St. Paul’s, Austin Preparatory School, and Northfield Mount Hermon for its first home meet of the season on Friday.
