Girls’ cross country won its meet against Needham 23-35 at Cold Spring Park Wednesday, Sept. 18, securing their first home meet victory of the season. Senior Ciara Evans’ strong first-place finish played a key role in the Tigers’ overall win. 

As the 5k race kicked off, the group of runners was tightly clustered. During the second lap as spectators began to cheer the teams on, the group dispersed and individuals started pulling ahead.

“I was tempoing today, not a full all-out,” said Evans. “My goal was to stay with the group the first lap and then pick it up.”

Although Evans initially aimed to stick with the pack, she finished first with a personal 5k record of 18:36. Greta Hammer, a Needham runner, sophomore Maggie Abely, and senior Rachel Newman followed.

Given that the team practices at Cold Spring Park, the familiar course terrain was helpful to achieving the victory, according to David Teszler, a head coach along with Joanna Mantell. 

The team dedicated all preseason and regular season practices to preparing for the 5K race, according to Mantell. With many freshmen unfamiliar with the event, the entire team collaborated to develop strategies for the meeting.

“They did a great job executing each individual race plan and performing together as a team,” said Mantell. “We had some girls who wanted to start fast, and they did that. We had some girls trying to stick with their teammates, and they did that.” 

The race was full of impressive runs and personal records, Mantell added. “Our team looks really strong, we have a ton of really good freshmen and we’re excited to run and train every day,” said Evans. “So I think we’re going to be very competitive when it comes to state-level meets.” 

North, 2-1, will go against Natick and Walpole Tuesday, Oct. 1.