Division 3 cross-country championships: Freshman Murray dominates

WRENTHAM — Ben Rich quickly adjusted Saturday to the terrain at the Wrentham Developmental Center, and it helped the Hamilton-Wenham senior post a winning time of 15:37 in the boys’ 5,000-meter run in a photo finish, edging Monument Mountain’s Everett Pacheco by 1.1 seconds for one of the titles at the annual Div. 3 cross country championships.

“Last week at my league meet, I fumbled the race in the last mile,” Rich said afterward. “I let someone get away from me, and I wasn’t going to let that happen again. So, I trusted myself, and made sure that I gave it my all until the very end, make sure I didn’t lose.”

The divisional championships were split into three sections, with two races each. Rich rallied in the final lap of the boys’ ‘B’ race, before gaining a few feet of separation on the final downward dash to clinch his trophy.

Meanwhile, few schools opened the competition better than Norwell, which saw runners place first in each of the ‘A’ races to begin the morning. In her first year with the Clippers’ cross country program, freshman star Katherine Murray won the girls’ showcase with a mark of 18:50.59, while junior John Doherty placed first in the boys’ contest (16:11.91).

“Last year, I was 20th here,” said Doherty. “I really wanted to improve on that. This season, I’ve been racing well. I’ve raced a lot of these guys that are here today. I wanted to come out here, and show them what I could do.”

Gardner senior Krista Bettez seized her opportunity in the moment by winning the girls’ ‘B’ 5,000-meter run with a final time of 18:29.56. A dual-sport star (also in basketball), Bettez has already received attention from local schools such as UMass (Amherst), UMass (Lowell) and Suffolk University for her abilities as a runner. She is looking to keep her newfound momentum rolling.

“I knew there would be some coaches here,” Bettez said. “I really want to keep running in college, so that kind of motivated me. Also, I’ve been PR’ing all season. So, I figured if I keep that going and get better, then it would be great for my last year.”

Oxford’s Cameron Davis made waves in the ‘C’ stage to cap the afternoon, winning the girls’ sprint with a time of 17:53.58. Parker Charter enjoyed a 1-2 finish during the boys’ event, as Henry Jacobsen (18:48) and Nathaniel Henshaw (15:58.7) crossed consecutively.

Norwell claimed the girls’ ‘A’ title with a low-score of 78 points as a squad. Thanks to back-to-back finishes in fifth and sixth place, Aarav Mehta (16:33.04) and Ben Tavares (16:34.84) paced Weston to the boys’ team championship in the event.

Later in the ‘B’ section, Hamilton-Wenham completed the sweep. In addition to Rich’s day, the Generals received a fourth place finish from James Regan (16:04.54) and a fifth place from Cole Regan (16:15.87), winning the team honor with 35 points. In the girls’ event, Grace Rich (18:34.08) and Asa Labell (19:10.74) carried the school to a title as well (40 points).

Propelled by back-to-back finishes at third and fourth by Evelyn Wool (18:27.21) and Rosie Bradley (18:42.50), Bromfield was able to claim the girls’ ‘C’ title with 87 points. Parker Charter earned the boys’ ‘C’ honor (25 points).