DEVENS — The Wakefield High girls’ cross country team had a great showing at the Devens Pre-Championship Classic on Saturday.
The course in Devens is the same one used for the All-State meet so the Warriors found it a good opportunity to gain familiarity.
Wakefield did much more than that as they took 6th overall.
“The girls came to compete today,” said head coach Karen Barrett. “We were only 4 points away from a 4th place finish so I was extremely proud of their effort and attitude.”
Quin Wilcox ran a terrific race against some great competition at the top as she finished 3rd overall in 19:04, earning a plaque and medal as a top 3 finishers.
“She ran smart and controlled the entire race,” said Barrett. “We have run that course several times in the past few years and I have never had an athlete run it that fast. Her effort and attitude is fantastic and I was so happy for her.”
Liza Bangtson also had a great day finishing 2nd for Wakefield, running for the third time on the Devens course and finishing with a PR of 21:03 featuring a tremendous kick to pass a few runners down the home stretch.
Abby Richardson continued to run well for the Warriors taking 3rd for the team and also getting a PR in 22:00.
Freshman Lillian McLean placed 4th for Wakefield (22:18) in her first time running the course.
Peyton Knowles (22:48) and Riley Mitchell (22:49) also got PR’s on the course taking 5th and 6th for the team. Lisa Letchford was the 7th finisher in 24:14.
“I felt like this meet gave the team more confidence to finish the season really strong,” said Barrett.
The JV race also featured good work from the Warriors.
Yongyi Zhao ran the best race of her career according to Barrett. The senior got a PR of 23:28 taking 1st overall.
“She started out fast and held onto the lead with a really strong finish,” said the coach. “I was so proud of the way she raced today.”
Three more earned medals as top 15 finishers: Natalie Collins (12th), Maggie Dick (13th) and Naya Shaar (15th).
“All three ran fantastic and I was so happy they earned medals,” said Barrett. “Overall, I was very proud of the way the team supported each other and brought out the best in each other. I feel like this was a perfect way to get ready for the team to have a really strong end of our season and hopefully this will carry us into a great postseason too.”