On Saturday, Oct. 14, the Marblehead High girls cross-country team competed in the Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Falmouth. As a team, they finished 12th overall in the 5K medium school division.
Marblehead sophomore star and team tri-captain Marri O’Connell ended up third in an absolutely blazing fast of 17:48, which is a 40-second personal best for her, according to coach Will Herlihy.
“(O’Connell) battled two of the state’s top runners throughout the entire race in what came down to a photo finish,” said Herlihy. “Just 0.1 seconds separated the first and third place finishers.”
Senior leader and tri-captain Cat Piper continues her explosive season by crossing the Falmouth finish line in 20:00.2, which is a 1:21-second personal best for her. She was 33rd overall. “Cat’s success this season has been well-earned from all the work that she’s been putting in over the past three years,” said Herlihy.
Junior newcomer and tri-captain Maren Potter was the third Marblehead runner to cross the finish line in an impressive time of 21:57.5. It was her first full 5K ever, and she came in 85th overall.
Senior Shannon Hitscherich and freshman Jesslyn Roemer were the team’s fourth and fifth place runners at the Glennon Invitational. Hitscherich clocked in at 22:58.6, a 1:33-second personal best in 119th place, while Roemer recorded a time of 22:59.7 in her first-ever full 5K. She ended up right behind Hitscherich in 120th place. Angie Fischer (24:52, 152nd) and Willow Waddington (25:56.9, 159th ) also competed in this invitational for Marblehead.
The Marblehead girls then fell to Peabody in the final Northeastern Conference (NEC) dual meet of the season. The Magicians finished up with a 5-2 record.
O’Connell has now extended her NEC unbeaten streak to two full seasons with another first place finish.
But ultimately Peabody’s depth won the day, with the Tanners taking second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh place.
Continuing her fine season, Piper did interrupt Peabody’s consecutive streak of runners that were practically running together as a pack to garner a fourth-place finish. Potter, Philine Heuermann and Hitscherich rounded out Marblehead’s top five harriers in this conference meet to finish ninth, 10th and 12th respectively.
