Middlesex League Cross-Country: Week 2 Review
(5-minute read)
Resident Tom Grant, a parent of a student-athlete, wrote this article.
Eva Kirkwood keeps her eyes on the finish line in her first dual meet victory. Photo by Michelle Kane.
The Lexington girls demonstrated their top-end talent in week 1. This week they showcased their depth. Meanwhile, the Winchester girls flexed their muscle, putting four runners under 20 minutes. On the boys’ side, the Arlington boys beat Lexington, declaring themselves the team to beat in the Middlesex League. Here is a brief rundown of races from the past week:
Girls - Week 2
Woburn at Reading. See write-up here
Arlington at Lexington. Lexington won 25-34. The score of this meet seems closer than one would expect, given Lexington’s star power. However, it was only close because Lexington rested most, if not all, of their varsity runners. Arlington picked up second place (Nora Chan; 20:29), fourth place (Nico Do McCracken; 20:43), and fifth place (Abigail Bjune; 20:44) on this very challenging course, but Lexington’s depth was too much to overcome. Lexington took spots 6 through 12 before Arlington’s fourth finisher.
Belmont at Winchester. Winchester won 15-45. Winchester flexed its muscles against Belmont, starting their top runners and earning the sweep. Winchester had four runners under 20 minutes (Julia Ramsey - 19:32; Millie McDonald - 19:34; Eloise Woelk - 19:46; Caroline Lanz - 19:53). Winchester continues to look like one of the top teams in the state.
Stoneham at Wilmington. Wilmington won 27-28. Wilmington won by the closest of margins, as their fifth runner beat Stoneham’s sixth runner by two seconds. Had the Stoneham sixth runner passed Wilmington’s fifth runner, the score would have been 28-28, and Stoneham would have won because their sixth runner finished before Wilmington’s sixth runner. Stoneham’s Autumn Shapiro was the overall winner in 19:40.
Wakefield at Burlington. Burlington won 24-31. Lillian McLean of Wakefield won the race in 19:47, but Burlington took the next four spots, making it all but certain they would win. This was a fast race, as five of the top six finishers set a personal best.
Watertown at Melrose. Melrose won 15-50. Melrose took the top ten spots on their home course to defeat Watertown. Melrose had 25 finishers compared to only nine for Watertown.
Middlesex League (ML) Girls’ Standings (L=Liberty Division, F=Freedom Division)
Senior Quinn Kane pushes to the finish. Photo by Michelle Kane.
2026 Top Ten Girls’ 5k Times
Jane Conrad, Lexington - 18:33
Amelia Whorton, Lexington - 18:49
Julia Ramsay, Winchester - 19:32
Millie McDonald, Winchester - 19:34
Ella Tyson, Lexington - 19:34
Autumn Shapiro, Stoneham - 19:40
Eloise Woelk, Winchester - 19:46
Lillian McLean, Wakefield - 19:47
Callie Glenn, Lexington - 19:48
Caroline Lanz, Winchester - 19:53
Boys
Woburn at Reading. See write-up here
Arlington at Lexington. Arlington won 23-33. Arlington has established itself as the team to beat in the Middlesex League, from the fast times they posted on their home course last week to then taking it to the Minutemen this week. Owen Merrill similarly is making a case for the top runner in the ML with his second win in a row. He ran the tenth-fastest time ever on the challenging Lexington course (16:16). While Lexington was missing some key runners, Arlington is 2-0 and on top of the league until proven otherwise.
Belmont at Winchester. Belmont won 20-35. Winchester is still missing some top runners from last season, but all credit goes to Belmont in this one. Their top two, Noah Geiger and Ishaan Kanagaraj, finished in 16:03 and 16:04, the two fastest times in the ML this season. Impressively, Belmont also took third and fourth place with Will Olmsted and Elias Campisano finishing in 16:52 and 16:53. Having pairs of runners with essentially the same time suggests Belmont perfectly executed a strategy designed to win the race. While Winchester is likely disappointed in this outcome, they are still a team to watch if they get back to full strength at some point this season.
Stoneham at Wilmington. Wilmington won 15-50. Wilmington put their first seven runners before Stoneham’s first finisher. Cooper Hunt won overall in 17:02, but perhaps more interesting for Wilmington was the PR put up by its second runner, Cooper Holleran. Holleran finished in 17:19, giving Wilmington a strong 1-2 punch.
Wakefield at Burlington. Burlington won 22-36. Burlington looked like a completely different team than the one that ran against Reading last week. Their top finisher, James Roy, put up the 8th-fastest 5k time in the ML this season (16:35), and was more than two minutes faster than his time against Reading. Five of their top seven put up personal bests on their home course, creating a very interesting matchup next week against Wilmington.
Watertown at Melrose. Melrose won 19-42. Melrose took six of the first seven spots, with Wakefield’s Simon Abo breaking up the pack by finishing second (18:03). Levi Barnes of Melrose finished first, a mere second ahead of Abo, in his first-ever dual meet victory.
Middlesex League (ML) Boys’ Standings (L=Liberty Division, F=Freedom Division)
2026 Top Ten Boys’ 5k Times
Noah Geiger, Belmont - 16:03
Ishaan Kanagaraj, Belmont - 16:04
Owen Merrill, Arlington - 16:07
Eli Hanover, Arlington - 16:10
Trevor Stevens, Lexington - 16:14
Nathan Wilson, Arlington - 16:23
Alden Hall, Lexington - 16:25
James Roy, Burlington - 16:35
Zachary Weinberg, Arlington - 16:40
Roberto Marrocchelli-Mendez, Arlington - 16:41
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