Old Rochester’s Cross Country team hits the ground running
Ryan Calderone sprints to the finish. Photos by Mari Huglin
Noah Robert-Howley (right) and Ryan Calderone (left) lead their team on the course.
Fiona Roveda sprints to make space between her and the competiton.
Elin Humenuk after finishing a hill.
From left to right: Nixon Forcier, Mark Robert and Rose Robert cheer on Noah Robert-Howley with creative signs.
Old Rochester girls Cross Country team at the start of the 5K.
Ryan Calderone focuses at the start of the race.
Noah Robert-Howley races to the finish line.
Ella Milhench has her eyes on the finish line.
Cassidy Carroll strides towards the finish.
Ryan Calderone sprints to the finish. Photos by Mari Huglin
Noah Robert-Howley (right) and Ryan Calderone (left) lead their team on the course.
Fiona Roveda sprints to make space between her and the competiton.
Elin Humenuk after finishing a hill.
From left to right: Nixon Forcier, Mark Robert and Rose Robert cheer on Noah Robert-Howley with creative signs.
Old Rochester girls Cross Country team at the start of the 5K.
Ryan Calderone focuses at the start of the race.
Noah Robert-Howley races to the finish line.
Ella Milhench has her eyes on the finish line.
Cassidy Carroll strides towards the finish.
MARION — “They will see you at your worst and at your best and they really become your family out here,” said senior captain Elizabeth Correia about the Old Rochester Cross Country Team.
Old Rochester Regional High School’s Cross Country team competed against Somerset Berkley Regional High School at Washburn Park on Thursday, Oct. 16.
The so-far-undefeated girls team won their meet, but the boys lost for the first time this season.
Old Rochester's Annalise Milhench was first overall with a 5K time of 20:43, a personal best. Noah Robert-Howley placed second overall but was the first Old Rochester boy to cross the finish line with a 5K time of 17:25. The overall boys winner was Matthew Barboza from Somerset Berkley with a 5K of 17:07.
Girls team senior captain Madalyn Haverty of Mattapoisett explained that Old Rochester kept things positive the whole meet.
“There was a lot of good energy out there. You could tell everyone was on the line with a really good attitude, and you could feel at the whole time we were running,” said Haverty.
Noah Robert-Howley of Mattapoisett, senior captain of the boys team, highlights how their team’s positivity makes it feel like they did not even lose.
“I feel like even though we lost today, it's not really a setback,” said Robert-Howley as he looks towards the rest of the season and making it to the regional championship.
Correia said the hardest part of being a captain is showing up everyday — even when you don’t want to.
“If you show up and bring a positive attitude, maybe it will make the rainy day 5% less bad for someone else,” she said.
Robert-Howley chimes in and said, “Being a role model is really crucial to making sure that we have that positive team environment.”
Genieveve Hever of Mattapoisett and Bentley Killion of Rochester are two freshmen who stick together in practice and in competition.
The girls explained that they work together and push each other to beat personal records, which they did at the meet Thursday.
Hever said, “It's very empowering because we've been working so hard this season so it's cool to know that we're running against people who are older than us.”
Hever and Killion are excited to see how the team does the rest of the season, hoping to win all their meets.
Head Coach and Chemistry teacher Jessica Pilla of Acushnet is proud of her team always cheering each other on. She said they are like a family helping each other get better.
“They're good at pushing each other and working together to get faster. I think they're good at putting their heads down and really grinding it out,” she said.
Pilla has seen her team come far with the small boys team of 8 athletes improve immensely from the beginning of the season in July.
“The boys team is small but has lots of talent,” she said, hoping more boys will join the team next year.
The next meet for the girls team is Saturday, Oct. 25 at 3:45 p.m. against Apponequet High School. The next full team meet will be regionals and from there, the team will head to the state competitions.
