Sveva Rosati ’19 nears the finish line.
Sprinting the last few yards, Michaela Jones ’18 was the first Andover runner to cross the finish line, contributing to Andover’s 21-36 victory over St. Paul’s. The team’s record now stands at 2-0.
Alisa Creuger-Cain ’20 and Molly Macqueen ’21 were right behind Jones to cross the finish line. While at St. Paul’s, the team faced challenges during the race because of the differences between the St. Paul’s course and its home course, according to some members of the team.
Macqueen said, “It was hard because half of the course was grass, and half of the course was on rocks, so deciding to wear spikes or not was really difficult. The team kind of split half and half. It made the footing really difficult.”
Posie Millett ’20 added, “The hardest part for me was probably the fact that, though St. Paul’s course seems flat, there are a lot of quick up and downs in the course and a couple gradual uphills that can catch you off guard.”
In addition to the difficulty of the terrain, the course itself was poorly marked, which caused people to get lost quite often, according to Lindsay Rosenberg ’19.
Andover has developed many good skills for competing together, including pack running.
Rosenberg said, “St. Paul’s had some really strong runners in the front of the varsity race that were challenging for those girls and the pack running really helped us be successful.”
Millett said, “The varsity team had a really strong pack around our three to five finishers, and we were all really supportive throughout the warm-up and into the race.”
In order to maintain its record, the team works together to foster a positive and encouraging atmosphere, said Rosenberg.
“The environment of the team is so warm. It is such a happy place to be, and everyone really cares about one another and what they are doing. It is really inspiring,” said Rosenberg. “In order to complete the race, I think about the team. If it were just me, I think it would be a lot harder to get through the pain, but everyone’s counting on you, so you have to make sure you pull your weight for the team.”
Andover will face Northfield Mount Hermon at home this weekend.
