Wakefield girls’ cross country defeats Wilmington, 15-48

Ready for Frank Kelley Invitational this weekend

Published in the September 28, 2017 edition.

WILMINGTON — The WMHS girls’ cross country team traveled to Wilmington on Tuesday for their first meet against the Freedom

SENIOR CO-CAPTAIN Gillian Russell ran a great race for the Warriors against Wilmington, finishing second overall with a time of 21:29. (Donna Larsson Photo)

Division. On a hot and humid day, the Warriors ran a great race on the 3.1 mile course, defeating the Wildcats, 15-48.

“Pack running was our focus going into this meet,” said Wakefield head coach Karen Barrett. “The girls showed a lot of improvement in this area.”

Pack running is about competing as a group, something that Wakefield has been working on in practice. The first five Warriors were closer to each other against Wilmington than their first race against Arlington.

“Our goal is to have our top five runners within a minute of each other,” said Barrett. “We will continue to work on this.”

Sophomore Olivia Lucey once again led the race from start to finish, turning in a nice win for her second of the season with a time of 20:57. 

Gillian Russell (21:29) and Isabella Kehoe (21:48) finished second and third, making them less than a minute apart from Lucey, proof that the pack running is improving. 

“I was really happy with their performances today,” said Barrett. 

Retta Carroll and Yvonne Lucas ran well to finish off the scoring. They were close to being in that one-minute time frame, running a 22:05 and 22:06. 

“I was really happy with the way they pushed each other,” said Barrett.

Topping off the varsity roster was Gabby Peduto (24:29) and Shannon Driscoll (24:36). 

“Both girls gave it a great effort,” said Barrrett. 

Freshman Audrey Schopperle (25:13), Elina Olmedo (25:36), and Grace Butler (26:02) also ran great races.

Also competing was junior Kate Lynch who finished strong with a time of 26:41. 

Freshman Lilliana Nunez ran her first race ever and looked great, finishing the 3.1 mile course in the blazing heat. 

In the end, It was a great showing from Wakefield as they get ready to compete in the Frank Kelley Invitational this weekend in Wrentham. 

“I am really proud of the way the team competed today,” said Barrett. “We will work hard at practice this week preparing for the Frank Kelley Invitational this weekend.”