Belmont High School junior Leah Brams finished in sixth place at the Div. 3 Eastern Massachusetts championships held Saturday, Nov. 8 in Wrentham, matching her placement from a year ago.
Brams 18 minute, 54.9 seconds over the five-kilometer (3.1 mile) course earned her a third consecutive trip to the Div. 1 state finals being held this year at historic Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday, Nov. 15. Junior Samantha Coletti of Whitman-Hanson Regional won the race in 18:18.7.
This year’s meet also saw the girls’ team earn a top-ten ranking for the first time in more than 15 years as the Marauders finished an impressive 9th with 264 points, bettering their 333 points and 13th place finish last year.
Belmont’s juniors Sophia Klimasmith and Meredith Hughes barely missed the 30th place cutoff to join Brams at the state championships as the pair finished in 34th (20:09) and 38th (20:16) respectively. They would have had to beat 20:00.9 which the 30th finisher achieved to have qualified.
Freshman Camilla Carere finished her first championship in 85th (21:42) followed by junior Emma Chambers (101st, 22:25) and junior Carly Tymm (22:36).
Belmont’s high ranking was achieved with one of its varsity runners, sophomore Elisabeth Silletto, out with an injury and a team made up entirely of underclassmen, one of only a handful of squads racing Saturday which could make that claim.
On the boys side, the team finished 19th in the Div. 3 section with 492 points, led by senior Ari Silverfine who raced home in 30th in 17:17, as he prepares for the indoor and outdoor track season in his speciality, the 800 meters. Following Silverfine was fellow senior Charles Smith in 80th (17:55), sophomore Wilder Manion (107th, 18:25), junior Mike Ferrante (124th, 18:41), Ian Bowe (151st, 19:30), Noah Miller-Medzon (159th, 20:02) and Connor Quinn (161st in 20:07).
Way to go cross country!