Coach Don Fay’s Chelsea High cross country programs have made impressive starts to their seasons, with both the boys and girls teams earning decisive victories over Commonwealth Conference opponent Northeast Regional. The boys squad dominated with a 17-46 final score. Leading the Red Devil boys was senior co-captain Ugo Cvjetan, who crossed the finish line first in 19:03 on the 2.9 mile home course at Admiral’s Hill. Senior co-captain Santos Hernandez placed second with a time of 19:29, while Joseph Arroyo took third in 19:36. Francisco Hernandez secured fifth place overall in 20:12, and junior Edgar Ocana rounded out the scoring in sixth with a time of 20:45. Seventh place went to Norbert Simon in 20:58, and senior Hector Mendoza finished eighth overall at 21:13.
The Lady Red Devils matched their male counterparts with a 19-39 victory. Senior co-captain Suzanne Mikalixen won the girls race by more than two minutes with a personal best of 23:03. Sophomore Arandeni Ramos finished third overall in her first cross country competition, recording a time of 26:28. Also making her debut was Wendy Chung, who placed fourth overall with a 26:35. Patricia Guardado finished fifth, and Tatiana Almedia rounded out the scoring in sixth place, just one second behind Guardado.
The following Saturday, both teams traveled to Billerica for the second annual Shawsheen Tech relay race, which featured four-person teams each running 1.5 miles. Chelsea’s girls team overcame a deficit of over two minutes during the race, with senior co-captain Jesenia Contreras (12:02) and senior co-captain Suzanne Mikalixen (11:18) running the two fastest legs of the day to secure victory by 39 seconds. Patricia Guardado and Paola Claros also competed for the Lady Red Devils. In the girls individual time trial, sophomore Tatiana Almedia won with a time of 12:51. The boys relay team of Edgar Ocana (10:20), Francisco Colindres (9:47), Joseph Arroyo (9:32), and Santos Hernandez (9:33) finished third overall with a combined time of 39:12. Calvin Hernandez won the boys individual time trial in 10:40, while Jamie Aguilar placed second overall in 10:52.
Following a trip to Greater Lowell on Monday, Fay’s teams will host Essex Aggie today (Thursday) at Admiral’s Hill, with the race beginning at 3:15.