Led by an overall victory from Anoush Shehadeh ’15, Andover Girls Cross Country sprinted by Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) on Saturday and won the race 36-23.
With a time of 18:48, Shehadeh continued her remarkable season, decimating the NMH course record by one minute and twenty seconds. The record was previously held by Kate Bulger ’11.
Shehadeh has finished in first place in all three races so far this season. The NMH race marks the second time this season that Shehadeh has broken a course record by over a minute.
A total of eighteen Andover runners finished before NMH’s seventh.
Only two races into the season, the team’s confidence and cohesion was strong.
“I think the team felt very confident,” said Coach Rebecca Hession. “We did several key workouts on terrain similar to NHM’s. Our pack running up front is getting increasingly strong, which is very important for our end of season races.”
Evelyn Tackett ’15 said, “The course felt more uphill than downhill. There wasn’t really a strategy to beat NMH, but just to try our best since it was such a tough course.”
According to the girls, the terrain at NMH was considered one of the hardest to race in the league, but Hession thought otherwise.
Hession said, “I’m not sure why there is a lore about NMH’s course being particularly hard. It is not the fastest course because of some uneven terrain. That said, the girls train for those conditions and are often successful at this meet because they race smart and stay focused on the course.”
Rachel Wittenberg ’13 said, “Particularly on a course like NMH’s, pack running is so important. We have a really strong team this year, both on and off the course, and I’m really proud of how everybody performed on Saturday.”
The team looks to sharpen up as it heads into the final three races of the season, heading into Interschols on November 10.
Andover’s next meet is on October 27th at home against Deerfield. The meet marks Andover’s first home match of the season, and the team looks to continue its strong running and come away with a victory.
