Girls Cross Country kicked off its season with an inspiring showing at the Manchester Invitational, securing high placements across all categories. At one of the biggest meets in New England, these formidable results — notably a 20:07.1 from Amelia Alvazzi ’26 and a 20:33.0 from Anya Budzinski ’26 — forecast an exciting season.
Sophie Stetson ’29 took first place in the Girls Freshman race — which was 2.1 miles rather than the typical five kilometers — in a course record time of 12:36.5. Budzinski praised Stetson’s performance in her first ever race wearing an Andover uniform.
“Someone that stood out to me in the Freshman race was Sophie Stetson. She won [the Freshman race] in the last 200 yards and was super strong throughout. The finish is uphill, so it’s very tough, but she had a great kick at the end and won and had a really great time. So, that was really exciting. Hopefully we’ll have her in the varsity race soon, which will be great,” said Budzinski.
Being the first meet of the season, high excitement accompanied the races. Hannah Jung ’28 described the support and motivation she received from her teammates.
“As I went up every single hill and crossed each corner, I would notice that there would be at least a small group of Andover students cheering each and every single athlete on. There was that team bonding moment where, no matter how much homework you have or things you need to do, everyone would be there supporting you on each and every single hill you challenge,” explained Jung.
Stetson shed some light on the team’s pre-race routine and a specific uplifting team-wide ritual. She described the various ways the team encourages one another.
“Before the race, we were all on the starting line together. We had a talk before we started the race and we talked about how we were feeling, and we held each other high. We all knew that we were going to do great,” said Stetson.
“During the race, we have this little saying called ‘spark it’ when you see someone in a race. It’s just telling your teammates, you got this, keep pushing. That really helped.”
Jung highlighted the enthusiasm that new runners brought to the sport. She expressed pride that the team was able to make a statement at this meet.
“I believe the team’s future is still bright, maybe even brighter because we have lots of new runners who are interested. [This meet] was a really good way to start off the season,” said Jung.
After this strong meet, the team looked to maintain their energy throughout the season. Budzinski explained the team’s training strategy for upcoming meets.
“Our next meeting is at home, so we’re going to do a lot of work, probably in the Sanctuary but also on the Great Lawn to really get familiar with the course, the terrain, and the tangents. In general, we’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing. We’ve gotten a lot of great miles recently, so we’re going to keep that momentum going forward in the next couple of weeks,” said Budzinski.
Girls Cross Country will host Choate and Montrose in its home opener on Saturday, October 4.
