Despite being the front-runners of Saturday’s race, Storrie KulynychIrvin PG’24 (left) and Emma Hagstrom ’25 (right) were disqualified for accidentally going off course.
Tara Menon ’26 (right) and Chloe Song ’26 (left) placed second and third, respectively, against Choate.
Saturday 10/7 – Andover: 26, Choate: 31
Andover Girls Cross Country resumed its strong season with a win against Choate on Saturday. With the team spirit being at an all time high, 13 out of the 23 runners made their home course debuts.
Maddie Fletcher ’27 revealed her first impressions of running her first race on Andover’s course. She commented on how the team’s encouragement helped cultivate welcoming spaces, regardless of experience level.
Fletcher said, “The team is definitely not hierarchical. We are all here to run, we are not here to beat each other, we are trying to beat ourselves. In the most recent race, we had a sort of pack of six of us. We all had high spirits and told each other to keep going which fosters a great team spirit. Our team in general is very enthusiastic and supportive.”
Alison Schneider ’26 expanded on the impact of a young team. According to Schneider, the presence of only one Senior and one postgraduate on the team has shifted the team dynamic from previous years.
Schneider said, “We have a lot of new runners. I was on the team last year, so it is good to introduce new runners to the team. But I think it is a good thing to have a young team so we have runners for the next few years.”
The team focused on maintaining quality during practices in preparing for its home course debut. Sophie Staii ‘25 talked about how doing hill repeats up Heartbreak Hill in the Cochran Bird Sanctuary was a major part of the team’s training regime.
“We did a lot of running on the whole course. Heartbreak Hill, which is in the Sanctuary, is a big hill so we went to that part of the course and ran it multiple times. We also just made sure which turns to take so we would know where to go,” said Staii.
For most people, Heartbreak Hill was the most challenging part of the race. The hill’s steepness proved to be an obstacle, especially at the tiring last stretch of the race, according to Fletcher.
“Pacing Heartbreak Hill is the main thing. Heartbreak is tough. Choate was struggling more, but we were struggling as well. It is mostly an even or small hill race, but once we get to Heartbreak Hill, getting over that hurdle and getting over that hump is very difficult. Great Lawn is also really challenging due to the long path and bad, spongy condition. In addition to those both being at the end, it takes what little stamina you have in you away. But once you get past those two parts, you know we are good,” said Fletcher.
Despite the victory, the team will continue to focus on areas of improvement. Since the team is still in the early stages of the season, the team is prioritizing endurance and team bonding, according to Schneider.
“Well it is the beginning of the season so speed and stamina since they are big components in cross country. I think that our community is well formed. I think we are getting into the swing of things and finding people that we can race with and follow,” said Schneider.
Andover Girls Cross Country will race St. Paul’s and Austin Prep away on Saturday.
