Nick Steele leads the Bromfield cross-country team to a fourth-place finish in the District finals. Individually Steele placed second with a time of 15:16, qualifying him for the state meet Nov. 21 in Westfield. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Bolton Road resident and Parker Charter School runner Nico Agosta runs to a third-place finish. Agosta also qualified for the Nov. 21 state meet.
The Bromfield boys cross country team took fourth place among the 30 schools racing at the Central Mass. Division 2 championships, held at the Gardner Golf Course on Saturday, Nov. 14.
Senior Nick Steele, the defending champion, finished second, with a time of 15 minutes, 16 seconds over the 2.9-mile course, a mere 0.8 seconds behind the winner, Zach Rolfe, of Parker Charter School. Steele’s effort earned him a spot at the state championship meet on Nov. 21 in Westfield.
Next for Bromfield were juniors Will Day and Paul Chapman, who finished 34th and 35th, followed by juniors Jamie Barrett in 47th and Tristan Cronin in 73rd place in the 205-runner field. Rounding out the varsity team were sophomore Luke Jones in 76th place and eighth-grader Will Squire in 90th place.
Hopedale won the meet, with a strong second-place overall by Parker Charter School, which included a third-place finish by Harvard’s own Nico Agosta.
Bromfield Coach Marisa Steele said she was thrilled with the team’s performance. “This was the first race all season in which we competed with all of our top five runners. I think we surprised quite a few people with our fourth-place finish.” She said it had been a tough year for runner Nick Steele. “His training has been significantly limited by health issues this fall,” she said. “Although it would have been nice for him to successfully defend his championship, I’m really pleased with his performance.”
Coach Steele said she was looking forward to next year and building on the momentum the team had gained as the season progressed. “We return six out of our seven starters, and I expect my four current juniors to continue improving.”
Girls finish 14th
The Bromfield girls team finished in 14th place in the girls championship, led by senior Kate Toll, who finished 48th among a field of 163 runners. Other Bromfield runners included sophomore Arielle Sclar (66th), seventh-grader Hannah Beckman (73rd), junior Eva Xue (87th), and sophomores Sophie Beckman and Julia Foley in 94th and 99th place, respectively.
The overall girls champion was Parker Charter sophomore Phoebe von Conta of Harvard, who cruised to victory in a time of 17:48.
