Girls' Cross Country vs Kent School

Score/Result: 17-44 W

On a beautiful fall afternoon, with foliage just past its peak, Taft girls’ XC travelled to Kent’s lovely but challenging cross country course.  The start was very fast, with Kent’s speedy lead pack setting the pace for the first half mile.  However, Taft’s top three runners soon moved to the front and stayed there for most of the three mile woodland route.  Just behind that trio of Dana Biddle, Sara Iannone and Maggie Swomley, another group of Taft girls also advanced through the pack of Kent runners and Taft demonstrated once again that gutsy, impressive finishes are our specialty.  Colleen Iannone managed to pass the first Kent girl near the end of the race, so that Taft took the first four places.  Caroline Manly, Rashi Narayan and Elizabeth Shea formed an impressive pack between Kent’s second and third runners, so that Taft captured seven of the top ten spots.  Mile times were slower than last week, thanks to the challenging terrain and infamous “Gutbuster hill,” but the girls did what they had to in order to earn a 9-1 record for the season, the best in at least seven years.

The JV squad also fared quite well in unofficial scoring.  Megan TeeKing, Bella Ordway, Courtney Jones, Amanda Roberts and Paige Whittemore all scored for JV, sweeping the first five places.  Samantha Douek and Maddie Olmstead rounded out the JV squad by coming in 6^th and 7^th in that unofficial race.  Josie Danziger, Nicole Lu, Naomi Muniz and Beck Frank all managed to tough out the course and also stay ahead of the Kent JV squad.  All the girls should be commended for finishing strong on Kent’s grueling course.  This has been a season to remember because the team is made up of dedicated, tough young women who have given their all at every workout and every meet.

Next week, Taft hosts the Founders’ League Championship meet.