Tessa McClain added a post-season victory to her already impressive 2018 record two weeks ago, winning the Nov. 24 Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional Girls Open race at Wappingers Falls, New York, and leading her five-member Attached Track Club team to a sixth-place finish.
McClain won the 5-kilometer race with a time of 19.52.3 minutes, beating 143 competitors and improving on her 20:03.47 time at the MIAA All State meet the week before.
“I had no expectations coming into this race,” she told an interviewer. “I’ve been suffering from a really long illness … so I was just going to go out and have a fun race, and then I found myself in the lead so I decided, I’m just going to take it. This is one of the best races I’ve had all year.”
McClain was joined by four other Attached TC runners, all of whom are members of the Bromfield girls cross-country team: sophomore Helena Justicz, eighth-grader Molly Squire, junior Hannah Beckman, and sixth-grader Emma Squire. The team placed sixth among the 11 that competed in the event. The Attached Track Club describes itself on its website as “a new track and field club based in Harvard.” The group is affiliated with USA Track and Field, the U.S. national governing body for track and field and cross-country running. USATF membership is required to participate in club practices and events.
Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional Girls Open
Results
- 1. Tessa McClain, 19.52.3 minutes
- 44. Helena Justicz 22:17.0
- 52. Molly Squire, 22:33.5
- 65. Hannah Beckman, 23:01.2
- 103. Emma Squire, 24.53.3
Attached Track Club members, from left: Tessa McClain, Hannah Beckman, Emma Squire, Molly Squire, and Helena Justicz. (Courtesy photo)
