Two afternoons of middle school cross country gave Cumberland plenty to follow, from the Makos’ tightly grouped finishers to a North Stars sweep with teammates filling the places all around their race winners.
For McCourt on Monday, October 5, the girls results came down to a 27–30 win over Gallagher and a 30–27 loss to Burrillville.
Beatrice Witner led the Makos in fourth overall at 13:29, with Jania DeJesus fifth in 13:40. Ruby Brown added sixth in 13:45, and Yanabell Tromp took eighth in 13:51. Four Makos in the first eight, separated by just 22 seconds. That gave McCourt a strong foothold in two tight team races.
McKenna Connors completed the scoring five in 21st at 15:10. Nora Persson and Nora Pattie followed in consecutive places, 22nd in 15:39 and 23rd in 15:41.
Those early places helped carry McCourt past Gallagher. Burrillville had an answer, taking the first two spots and ninth through 11th to edge the Makos by the same three-point margin.
The boys faced a tougher scoring afternoon, falling 47–15 to Gallagher and 34–23 to Burrillville. Felix King gave McCourt a finish under 12 minutes, placing eighth in 11:58, and Maxwell Ludwig joined him in the top 10 at 12:07.
Conor Murphy followed in 15th at 12:54. Then came a little McCourt traffic: Brent Barradus in 24th at 13:26, Ben Stowik in 25th at 13:28, and Caleb Benjamin in 26th at 13:29. Three straight places in three seconds, with Barradus and Stowik completing the scoring five. Mikey Connors rounded out McCourt’s first seven in 28th at 13:55.
King and Ludwig gave the Makos two top-10 performances. Gallagher’s five runners among the first seven showed the depth McCourt was up against in the team scoring.
North Cumberland took its turn Tuesday, October 6, at Ponaganset High School. The boys claimed every spot in the first five.
Ian Weider won in 12:13, Peter Mercier followed in 12:14, and Nicholas Meehan and Ryan Libby finished third and fourth in 12:17 and 12:18. Just five seconds covered those first four North Stars. Evan Drolet completed the sweep in fifth at 12:30, making it a 17-second spread across the scoring five.
That group delivered a 15–46 win over Ponaganset and a 15–48 victory over North Smithfield. Harrison Garon added ninth in 12:37, Jackson Nalbach took 10th in 12:39, and Henning Fernandes followed in 13th at 13:13. Seven of the first 10 places belonged to North Cumberland.
The girls had a team story of their own, and the North Stars’ names kept coming.
Milania Santoro Brown won in 13:51, with Eloise Wensus second in 14:13. Charlotte Gosdanian took fourth in 14:20, Braya Hampson fifth in 14:25, and Cali Croteau sixth in 14:50 to complete the scoring five.
North Cumberland then filled the next five places: Elise Weimar, seventh in 14:54; Juliana Labranche, eighth in 14:57; Jillee Henderson, ninth in 14:58; Ellie Kulaga, 10th in 15:05; and Teaghan Jones, 11th in 15:09.
Ten of the first 11 girls finishers were North Stars. The girls beat both opponents, including an 18–45 win over North Smithfield, to finish off the sweep.
Four team wins, two race winners, and a whole lot of North Stars sharing the credit.