WRENTHAM — The North Reading Hornet XC teams finished up their CAL seasons with the CAL Open last weekend at Wrentham Developmental Center on a beautiful fall afternoon for cross country. Both programs had their best races of the season as so many athletes ran their fastest times over the 5k course.
On the boys’ side, in the varsity race, junior Nalo Benedict had his best race of the season and it paid off with an 8th place finish and CAL All League status with a time of 16:47.90. Junior Jacob Ye was the next Hornet across the line with a time of 18:54.10 which placed him 44th overall.
Sophomore Cole Donohue (54th, 19:30.60), freshman Zachary Mahoney (57th, 19:35.80), senior Gerard Jorda (58th, 19:41.30), sophomore Mark Sorrenti (62nd, 20:00.30) and sophomore Cooper Mascolo (64th, 20:18.30) rounded out the Hornet competitors. The team finished 10th overall in the team competition with a score of 218 points.
In the JV Open, 8th grader Aidan Steele paced the Hornets with a blistering 19:12.9 and a 4th overall finish in the event. Freshman Dominic Spada followed up closely behind him with a 19:40.60 which placed him 7th overall in the race.
Sophomore Charlie Sarno (30th, 21:20.60), freshman Declan Walsh (66th, 24:19.70), 8th grader James Boesch (70th, 24:36.10), 8th grader Hugo DaSilva (76th, 25:39.10), freshman Cole Verdonck (80th, 26:03.60) and freshman Declan Goshey (82nd, 26:29.20) rounded out the Hornet runners.
“We had a tremendous day in both the Varsity and JV competitions,” said Hornet head coach Ryan Spinney. “So many personal and season bests and just an overall next level effort across the board. A special moment for Nalo as he pushed himself into the conversation of one of the very best distance runners in the CAL, and that is something he has worked very hard towards this season. I am very proud of each and every one of our athletes for their efforts today and all season long.”
On the girls’ side, the Hornets finished 4th overall in the varsity competition with a total of 102 points.
Senior Quinlan Kelly placed 3rd overall in the race with a time of 19:35.20 to cement her All-League status. Kelly was also voted CAL Kinney Girls’ Runner of the Year by the CAL coaches for her undefeated regular season in Kinney Division competition, an honor that is extremely well deserved.
Junior Adelyn Kelly and junior Riley MacDonald joined Quinlan on the podium as they also achieved All-League Status as Adelyn finished 9th overall in a time of 20:41.70 and Riley finished 15th overall in a time of 21:36.90.
“Quin, Addie and Riley have been setting such a great tone all season for daily discipline and hard work both at practice and in races,” said Spinney. “They are all so very worthy of being recognized as being the class of the league and they ran exceptionally well to earn that honor today.”
Sophomore Chloe DeAngelis (31st, 23:04.10) and freshman Ruby Davidson (51st, 25:51.40) rounded out the Hornet runners in the varsity race.
In the JV race, 8th grader Sophia Garibotto stepped out into the spotlight in a big way as she won the race in a time of 21:10.70, a full 102 seconds ahead of the 2nd place runner.
“Sophia is just starting to scratch the surface of her potential as a runner and it is going to be wonderful to watch her continue to improve over the next four years,” said Spinney. 8th grader Bridget MacDonald had a stellar race in her own right with a 4th place effort in a time of 23:17.60. 8th grader Emily Cappella (24th, 26:41.00), freshman Ilma Gurda (40th, 29:39.30), junior Annalee Miller (45th, 32:35.60), sophomore Samantha Mejia (46th, 32:53.10) and 8th grader Tabitha Begley (47th, 35:46.00) rounded out the Hornet runners in the race.
“Everyone had great efforts today and we competed as hard as we could. This is a great group and it has been a true pleasure to see how far they have come over the course of the season,” said Spinney. “They set high expectations and have met them each step of the way so far”
The Hornets are moving on to the MIAA Division 2C Race on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Northfield Mountain in hopes of moving on to the Meet of Champions the following weekend at Devens.
“These teams are very special ones. Each race they all step up to support one another and continue to push themselves to the next level,” said Spinney. “We have an opportunity to do something special at the MIAA Divisional meet in two weeks.”