NNHS v. Weymouth

This is FUN!

Another great meet this Tuesday, as the undefeated (9-0) Weymouth girls travel to Newton to take on the 8-1 Tigers at Cold Spring Park. The Weymouth girls have never beaten Newton North in cross-country. Not ever. Is this the year it will finally happen?

I think the meet will be very close, but I think North will win in an upset. It might seem illogical to think that Newton North, who were overrun by Wellesley, could beat Weymouth, who won handily against Wellesley, but that's the way I see it. When Weymouth beat Wellesley, Wellesley was missing their #1 and #3 runners. And the race was at a flat, fast 2.5M course.

At Cold Spring Park, I think a healthy Jess Barton will beat Becca MacDonald. After that, Haleigh Smith and Carolyn Ranti will have to go 3-4 against Weymouth's Nicole Pearce and Kristin Mahoney. Then it's up to the veterans (Szeman Lam and Jackie Faneuil) and the new kids (Adina Henley-Bronstein and Liz Altieri) to break up Weymouth's formidable pack. Here's how I see it:

NN Wey
1 2
3 5
4 6
9 7
10 8

27-28 Newton North.

And, with all due respect to Weyouth coach Mike Miller, I think that Peter Martin will have the best possible game plan going into the race to use the Cold Spring Park to his team's advantage. Whatever happens, it will be exciting to watch two of the top BSC teams battle it out for the Carey Division title.

Oh yeah, the boys meet should be a great one, too! Weymouth is 7-2 this year, with its only two losses to Wellesley and Brookline. And are they hungry to beat Newton North? It would absolutely make their season a success to pull off the upset. Believe it, Weymouth will be jacked up for this meet.

On paper, Newton North looks stronger. It would be a major surprise if North's duo of David Polgar and Doug Brecher don't totally run away from Weymouth's Joe Ruvido and Sean Coleran. After that, it gets a little more interesting. Noah Jampol is strong enough to finish 5th, maybe even better, and then Ben Chebot and Seb Putzeys should be better than Weymouth's 5th runner. Here's the way I project the score:

NN Wey
1 3
2 4
5 6
7 8
9 10

NN 24 - Weymouth 31

The course should be a little drier this Tuesday than it was last week. And it's the last home meet ever for Polgar, Brecher, and Jampol.

It will be a blast!