Support for Harwood Highlanders overflowed at this year’s cross-country invitational and the Highlanders thrived on Saturday, October 15.
Erin Magill and Noah Eckstein led Harwood to victory, both placing second in their respective races. The team was even more impressive in team scoring, with the boys taking first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth and the girls taking first, third, second and fourth as well as sixth.
There were many supporters from outside The Valley sporting black and yellow colors and T-shirts that had slogans like, “Our hearts are with you, Harwood,” showing support for the school’s community after losing five Valley teenagers to a wrong-way driving accident on October 8.
Coach John Kerrigan said he has received an overwhelming amount of support from teams throughout Vermont and even the country. Even the hotel that the team stayed at during a recent trip to Maine sent their support via email.
“The results were secondary today,” Kerrigan said, also noting that his team could have run better had it not been for the stress they have been under the past week.
“I noticed that many of our kids were not themselves,” said John Kerrigan. “Their strides were not as springy, their breathing was labored and their mood was somber. But after watching our runners race on Saturday, it was clear that their running was an outlet for all of the emotions that they have been feeling this week.”
About the team’s win, Eckstein said, “It’s really gratifying and important considering everything that’s happened recently; it’s been a tough week.” He also noted that the win was really important for the team moving forward from this week.
Eckstein paced the boys’ team finishing with a time of 17:40.94, followed by Daniel Bevacqui, 18:12.50, Jesse Bisbee, 18:16.76, Anthony Palmerio, 18:17.07, Brendan Magill, 18:24.18, Colin Fennelly, 18:25.20, and Tristian Touchette, 19:07.50.
Erin Magill led the girls’ team at 20:30.62, followed by Julianne Young, 20:57.20, Anneka Williams, 21:22.02, Lily Clark, 22:16.50, Willa Yonkman, 23:06.77, Katie Ferguson, 23:20.30, and Isabel Jamieson, 24:06.94.
Only the top five runners from each team qualify for team scoring.
The most poignant moment of the meet came before the last race of the day, the girls’ JV race, when all the runners joined the Highlanders’ team huddle for a moment of silence and a unified prerace cheer. “I was talking to our girls and they were crying,” Kerrigan explained. “Then I looked over and saw that the Middlebury girls were crying, too. So I said, ‘Let’s invite them into our huddle.’ Next thing we knew, all the girls from the starting line were standing in a circle hugging each other and crying. Then we did a cheer for Liam, Cyrus, Mary, Eli and Janie.”
