Westfield High girls’ cross country seniors Libby Hickson Azocar, Celina Billerbeck, Hannah Giffune, Amanda Haluch and Sam Tuttle and Kaliegh Florek, stand alongside coach Mike Rowbotham on senior day. (Photo by Kate McCabe)
WESTFIELD – With the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference cross country championships less than two weeks away, one team is making strides to pull off an upset or two.
Westfield fell to league leader, Northampton, Tuesday in girls’ cross country action at Stanley Park, 15-50, but gained a bit of momentum in each individual effort.
“Despite the … score, I’m very pleased with how our girls ran today,” Westfield coach Michael Rowbotham said. “They have continued to train hard and the awesome number of season best times, as well as some all-time personal best times show that they are peaking for the postseason.
Sophie Gronbeck was the first Westfield High School runner to cross the finish line, in eighth place overall with a time of 22:03.
Maddie Eline, who ran a season best time of 23:09, Julie Guarente (23:13), who completed an all-time personal best, Hannah Giffune (23:50), Kaleigh Florek (season best 25:13), Sam Tuttle (personal best 25:16), Celina Billerbeck (25:22), Victoria Sardinha (25:41), Ally Davis (personal best 25:45), Shannon Sullivan (season best 26:03), and Hannah Bone (personal best 26:04) rounded out the Bombers’ top 10.
“The cool conditions made for excellent running conditions on one of the most popular 5K courses in Western Mass.,” coach Rowbotham said.
Northampton won the meet early, pushing the first seven runners across the finish line with Mariel Lutz (20:08) leading the way.
Several other Bombers shined brightly, recording season best times, including: Paige Neylon (26:10), Natalie Mitchell (26:13), Lauren Mastroianni (26:42), Karolina Gurulyova (26:53) and Gabby Rivera (30:07).
The highlight of the afternoon featured Westfield seniors Amanda Haluch, Kaliegh Florek, Samantha Tuttle, Hannah Giffune and Celina Billerbeck celebrating their final regular season home meet. The Bombers also bid farewell to senior manager Libby Hickson Azocar.
“I’m confident we will have a good showing in the conference championship meet … and surpass our standing from recent years,” Rowbotham said.
