The Westfield and Southwick high school girls’ cross country teams competed in a meet at West Springfield Tuesday. (Photo by Libby Hickson Azocar)
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Three neighboring towns came together for double dual meets as Westfield High School and Southwick Tolland Regional High School joined West Springfield High School at Clark Field in West Springfield Tuesday afternoon.
While each school fielded robust teams of 20 or more girls, the score was determined by the top handful of runners from each team.
Fans enjoyed a very close meet with each team’s top runners finishing in the top 16 places.
Westfield fans were surprised and elated when the Bombers’ Sophie Gonbeck (22:32) and Carley Censebella (22:41) entered the stadium and finished first and second among all finishers.
In a sprint to the finish, Southwick’s Emily McKinney (22:42) followed by a few feet, finishing in third overall and first for her team.
Westfield’s prospects faded when Southwick’s Sam Smith (23:02), Abigail Howe (23:16) and Cassie White finished closely behind.
Other top finishers for Westfield included Hannah Giffune, Julie Guarente, and Ellie Dufraine. Southwick’s Caroline Clark, Reece Couture and Maggie Drohen were in the points for the Rams as well.
In the end, the Bombers lost very close meets to both Southwick and West Springfield by identical scores; 26-29.
Westfield also saw season best performances by Amanda Haluch, Natalie Mitchell, Paige Neylon, Lauren Miastrioani, and Karolina Gurulyova. – Courtesy of WHS coach Mike Rowbotham
BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRY
Franklin Tech 15, St. Mary 49; Sci-Tech 21, St. Mary 37
James Marasi cracked the top 10 in a high school boys’ cross country meet for St. Mary at Stanley Park. Marasi was seventh overall in 21:48. Aaron Moore, of Franklin Tech won the 3.1 mile race in 18:49.
