2006 Bay State Preview - Girls

Of the top 30 girls in last year's Bay State league meet, 23 return, suggesting that 2006 will be a very deep year with competition fierce among the top teams.

The top three teams from last year -- Wellesley, Newton North, and Weymouth -- should remain at the top, although the order might be shuffled. Newton North and Weymouth will battle at the top of the Carey division, while Natick will take a run at Wellesley for supremacy in the Herget conference.

Needham and Brookline look like good teams, although neither one appears to have the depth to break into the league top three.

Among individuals, Jess Barton is the overwhelming favorite to defend her 2005 league title. Rebecca White (Natick) and Sabrina Parise (Brookline) are definite threats for the top three, although any one of a crowd of returning all-stars could emerge as one of the top runners, including Newton North's Carolyn Ranti (7th in 2005) and Haleigh Smith (9th); Wellesley's Krysten Hartman (5th) and Marlis Gnirke (8th), and Natick's Anya Price (10th). Although I haven't mentioned the names of any Weymouth runners, they have a formidable pack, led by rising junior Kristen Mahoney, who placed 13th last year.

TEAM-BY-TEAM CAPSULES

1. Newton North - The Tigers are my unbiased pre-season pick to win the league, as they return three of the leagues top ten runners in Barton, Smith, and Ranti, supported by an outstanding sophomore class, which includes highly-placed returnees Liz Altieri, Maalika Banerjee, Nora Barnicle, Franca Gadenzi, Adina Hemley-Bronstein, and Becca Park. This year's freshman class also looks strong, and several new runners will be threatening to break into the top 7 over the course of the season.

2. Weymouth - Weymouth returns their 2-7 runners from a team that defeated Newton North in a dual meet last Fall, and narrowly lost to the Tigers at the league and Class A meets. With the graduation of five-time XC all-star Becca MacDonald, Weymouth no longer has a star, but they are very deep. Junior Kristen Mahoney and Senior Nicole Pearce are the top runners, and Mahoney shoiuld be among the league's top 8-10 runners.

3. Wellesley - Wellesley graduated 3 of their top 7 runners from 2005, including New-England two-mile champion and Bay State XC runner-up Brielle Chabot. They do return two all-stars (Hartman, Gnirke) and have several strong underclassmen. Injuries were a problem last year, but if Wellesley stays healthy, they are definitely a threat to win the league.

4. Natick - Sophomore Rebecca White and Junior Anya Price lead Natick, which returns all 7 of its runners from a team that finished a strong 4th in the league meet. However, in that meet, there was a minute and a half between Price and Natick's 3rd runner, junior Kim McGill. That gap has to close for Natick to break into the top three teams.

5. Milton - Milton graduated their top runner from 2005, Mary Morris, but return 2-7 from a team that finished 6th in the league last year. Their top returnee is Stephanie Marchetta-Wood (24th in 2005), and they also have a number of JV runners who could move up. They won't challenge the top four teams, but should be the best of the rest.

6. Brookline - It is a mystery why Brookline's boys teams are always so good, and their girls teams are merely average. Brookline has one legitimate star in senior Sabrina Parise (6th in 2005), but their second runner was almost two minutes behind at the league meet. Their chronic lack of depth will hurt them again in 2006.

7. Needham - The resurgence of Needham's boys cross-country team over the last two years has been great to see. This year the girls should also begin to show improvement, but they appear to lack depth. There is a rumor that they have picked up one or two good runners from soccer, so they might surprise some teams, but it's hard to see them moving up much from last year's 8th place league finish.

8. Walpole - Walpole loses two good seniors, but maybe they can reload. They were 5th in the league last year and it's a bit hard to pick them this low. Depth is a problem for them, and other teams seem to be improving. They might make me eat my words, though.

9. Framingham - Don't look now, but Framingham returns 6 of 7 from their varsity, including top runner Olga Bolkhovsky (16th in 2005). If they develop a good group from their young runners, they might be the biggest surprise in 2006.

10. Braintree - Top returner is Liz Bellafatto (49th), whose brother excelled in the jumps and sprints in track.

11. Norwood - All 7 varsity runners return, but have they improved from last year's last-place showing? A few years ago, Norwood's Lisa Davenport won the league title. Since then, the landscape has been bleak.

12. Dedham - Graduated their top runner, and lack enough bodies to challenge the bigger schools. Rex Radloff's sister Candice might be their best this year.