Thanks to the continued partnership of all of the Cape Ann high schools, the local boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams appear poised to compete for a Cape Ann League Baker Division title yet again.
The Manchester Essex cross country program added Gloucester to its traditional Manchester/Essex/Rockport co-op in the fall of 2023, a change that not only helped boost the roster size and the ability to compete for the division crown. Initially, the plan was for the partnership to last for just
one year, but there were only a handful of Gloucester High School runners interested in trying out this summer, prompting the all-Cape-Ann co-op to continue into 2024.
“I’m happy about the Gloucester students who are running with us,” explains Hornets coach Steve Whittey. “I coached some of them in indoor and outdoor track because I coach in Gloucester in the winter and the spring, and I’m happy that it gives them a place to be able to run in the fall.
While adding the extra Gloucester runners creates a natural boost in roster size (the boys team totals 12 on the roster, the girls have 10), it also creates a step up in competition: Once the postseason begins, MERHS runners will be facing MIAA Div 2 opposition, a bump up from the Div. 3 meets the groups participated in a couple of years ago.
The good news is that both teams seem up to the challenge of both their Cape Ann League opposition and whatever comes after that. The boys went 3-1 last year, with their only loss to rival and cross-country heavyweight Hamilton-Wenham. The girls went 2-2 after a bit of roster transition, but are only two years removed from winning the CAL Baker title.
Competing for the CAL Baker crown will require both teams to succeed week after week during the relatively short high school cross country regular season, including a circle-the-date matchup with Hamilton-Wenham near the end of that schedule. The Hornets begin their season against Ipswich at Crane Beach on September 11, host Lynnfield at Ravenswood Park on
September 18 and then head to Georgetown on September 25. The last two meets of the season are on the home turf of Ravenswood, with the aforementioned match with the Generals on October 1 and the regular season finale against Amesbury on October 9.
“Ipswich is our first meet, and they usually have a fairly good team,’ says Whittey. “The strongest team we are going up against is Hamilton-Wenham on October 1, that will probably determine who the division winner is. That’s one of our biggest meets, and it’s a very competitive league.”
While the boys lost their top two runners and the girls lost their number two runner from 2023, there are quite a few reasons to believe there will be little drop-off for the Hornets teams in 2024. The teams are deep, and the girls team boasts a roster full of experienced, talented runners, while the
top three runners on the boys’ side are also both fast and experienced.
“Cross country running has a little bit of tactics in it, but it’s pretty much either you can run fast or not run quite that fast,” explains Whittey. “It does help, obviously, in terms of leadership among the kids, to have experienced kids who know the ethos of the team. To carry that on as team captains, it’s important.”
That ethos is carried on by the team’s leaders and top runners, the captains. Manchester Essex seniors Whitney Turner and Sabine Cooper return as captains for the girls’ team, while the boys team features
one runner from each town participating in the co-op as captains: Henry Stevens is a senior at MERHS, Henry Chadbourne is a senior at Rockport High, Lyall Cunningham is a junior at Gloucester High.
“All of them are pretty much the top runners on the team,” explains Whittey. “They have also demonstrated leadership during their time on the team. Because we have not had a lot of upper-class girls the last few years, this is Whitney’s fourth year as a team captain and it’s Sabine’s third year.”
The girls boast four seniors, a pair each of juniors, sophomores and freshmen. On the boys side, the three captains are the only upperclassmen, with the rest of the roster filled out with underclassmen. Regardless of age or experience, both teams just recently got started on preparing for the season, with the Hornets hosting their first practice of the year at the start of the week.
“We start out with just base running before we get into too much,” says Whittey. “Our initial phase is looking into more building up strength and endurance before adding any speed to our workouts.”
