Photo: Ann Zetterstrom

As the 2021 fall season comes to a close, the Harwood girls cross country team has had a lot to celebrate. In a dominant performance reminiscent of years past, the girls took first place for Division 2 in the State Championship. Five Harwood girls placed in the top ten, bringing the team to a victory only two points away from snagging the Division 1 state title from BFA.

The top 5 Harwood girls runners included Ava Thurston, Britta Zetterstrom, Charlie Flint, Julia Thurston and Elisa Clerici. This year, Ava Thurston continued her winning streak. Thurston has been first in D2 for the past four years and won all divisions for the last three.

Ava Thurston finishes her last State Championship race in high school

The girls and boys cross country teams are led by veteran coach John Kerrigan, who commonly implements the strategy of “sticking to someone” to maintain pace and get such astounding results from the team. “I kept Maggie in sight,” said senior co-captain Britta Zetterstrom. “She was the person that Kerrigan picked for me to chase after. States, time-wise, wasn’t my best work, [but] I guess I ran faster than last year.”

Overall, this meet was another great success for the Harwood girls, proving their dominance on the state level. However, with the impending loss of some of the team’s top runners, will the team remain dominant? “We have a lot of seniors on the team this year,” said veteran runner Alice Lindsay. “But I’m sure the team will be able to come together and do as well, if not better, next year.”