The Waltham Track Club's youth cross country team had a very strong showing at the New England Junior Olympic Championships this past Sunday at Freestyle Farm in Amherst, N.H.
The Club achieved 13 personal records and 17 top-25 finishers, while qualifying three teams and five individuals for the Region 1 Junior Olympic Championships in Augusta, Maine next weekend.
The Region 1 meet serves as the qualifying meet for the National Championships in Reno, Nevada on Dec. 12.
Highlights of the NE meet were achieved by Chloe Taylor, who won the 8-10 girls race and Sonja Jampel, who paced the 11-12 girls with a second-place finish.
The 11-12 girls team finished second (just three points behind first-place Granite State). The 13-14 girls were also second (just two points behind Triad). The 8-10 boys were third by one point. The 8-10 girls just missed qualifying, finishing fourth by one point. The top three teams and top 25 individuals qualified to move on.
Moving on for the Club's 11-12 girls will be Jampel (second, PR 12:01.84), Maddy McLaughlin (ninth, 12:34.7), Julia Kern (12th, 12:36.28), Leah Brams (14th, 12:40), Elena Chiulli (17th, 12:44.79), Zoe Gompers (24th, 13:08.35), Emma Fitzgerald (26th, PR 13:15) and Hannah Randolph (35th, 13:41.44).
The 13-14 girls team qualifiers include Kaitlin McCauley (sixth, 16:32), Olja Rapaic (eighth, 6:40), Annika Gompers (16th, PR 17:15), Cate Brams (19th, 17:23), Leanne Go (27th, 17:42), Talia Frazier (52d, 19:35), Tori Smith (53d, PR 19:39) and Martyna Pawlikowska (67th, 21:03).
The 8-10 boys qualifiers are Jacob Jampel (fourth, PR 12:17.12), Michael O'Donoghue (eighth, 12:26.56), Daniel O'Donoghue (ninth, 12:26.85), Tommy O'Neil (29th, PR 13:32.8) and Joao Vieira (54th, 16:12.83).
Qualifying as individuals were Taylor (first place, 12:36), Einat Gavis (12th, PR 13:59) and Katie Cronin (22d, PR 14:43) in the 8-10 age group and Gavin McEwen (eighth, 11:45) and Thomas O'Donoghue (25th, PR 11:57).
``These performances set us up well for this weekend's national qualifier,'' stated coach Joe Tranchita. ``We believe that with a few minor adjustments in our race execution, we can finish ahead of the teams that just edged us this past weekend, and be very competitive with any of the teams coming up from New and New Jersey.''
The top three teams and top 20 individuals at the Region 1 meet will qualify for the Nationals.
Several members of the Waltham Track Club's youth cross country team scored well in the first-ever Middle School State Championships, hosted by the United States Track and Field Association, last Saturday at the Willard Field Complex in Devens.
More than 1,300 competitors from 91 schools were entered in the competition, which was broken into three grade divisions and one team championship division for both boys and girls. Competitors represented their respective middle schools.
In the girls' competition, six Club members earned medals. Julia Kern won the seventh-grade girls race, covering the 1.7-mile course in 10 minutes, 40 seconds. In the girls eighth-grade race, Kaitlin McCauley was second in 10:24, Olja Rapaic was third in 10:41 and Cate Brams was sixth in 11:14. In the team championship race, Sonya Jampel was fourth in 10:39 and Leanne Go was 13th in 10:58.
Overall, combining all divisions based on time, Club members finished third, sixth, eighth, ninth, 18th and 26th.
In the boys competition, Peter deReyna was 13th in the seventh-grade race, Max Nighswander was 26th in the fifth- and sixth-grade race, and in the team race (which combined all grades), Thomas O'Donoghue was 39th (sixth among sixth graders), Jeremy Taylor was 48th and Hugh O'Neil was 100th.
Other Club members competed and had an impressive showing at the Jr. Olympic Pre-Race held on Sunday at Freestyle Farm's 3K course in Amherst, N.H.
Michael and Daniel O'Donoghue finished first and second in the 8-10 boys division with personal-record times of 12:18 and 12:19. Jacob Jampel was fourth in 12:30 and Tommy O'Neil was 27th in 14:06. In the 8-10 girls division, Chloe Taylor was first in 12:34 and Einat Gavish was fifth in 14:05. In the 11-12 girls division, Leah Brams was third in a personal-record of 12:33 and Zoe Gompers was eighth in 13:16.
