Last Thursday, the Chelsea High boys and girls cross country teams both emerged victorious in their respective meets, defeating Mystic Valley on the loop at Admiral’s Hill. The girls’ team, coached by Don Fay, now holds a perfect 5-0 record, while the boys’ team is 4-0. Ugo Cvjetan led the way for the boys, maintaining his undefeated streak this season with a time of 18:06. Joseph Arroyo came in third for Chelsea, finishing in 18:46. Francisco Colindres, the next Red Devil to cross the line, ran 19:18 and placed seventh overall. Santos Hernandez followed in eighth place, and Edgar Ocana rounded out the scoring with a time of 19:48, securing ninth place. This gave Chelsea a total of 28 points. As was the case in last week’s narrow victory over Greater Lowell, Hector Mendoza played a pivotal role in the meet, outkicking Mystic Valley’s fifth runner and moving him from ninth to 10th place. This shift was crucial, as it also gave Mystic Valley 28 points. However, Chelsea secured the win due to a tiebreaker, as Mendoza, Chelsea’s sixth runner, finished ahead of Mystic Valley’s fifth runner. “This is the first time that I have been involved in a meet that ended in a tie score,” said Fay. “I’ve been involved in numerous one point meets but this was a first. Some of the boys initially didn’t understand how we won when the score was tied, but now they understand why it is important for every runner to finish in as high a position as possible.” With the win over Mystic Valley, a team in the same small school division of the Commonwealth Athletic Conference, the Red Devils now only need to defeat Minuteman Regional next week to claim their first league title since 1998. On the girls’ side, the Lady Red Devils continued their pursuit of their first ever league title, defeating Mystic Valley with a score of 22-33. “We only had five girls running, which is the bare minimum for a cross country race,” noted Fay. “But all five had personal bests and ran their best meet so far this year.” Suzanne Mikalixen suffered her first loss of the season, finishing in second place, but set a new course record with a time of 22:25. Duska Cvjetan, a freshman making her first race of the year, placed third with a time of 23:39. Senior Jesenia Contreras came in fourth, running 23:57. Sophomore Patricia Guardado and Tatyana Almedia finished in sixth and seventh places, respectively, with times of 24:44 and 25:43. The girls and boys teams are set to face Minuteman Regional on Tuesday and Whittier Tech on Friday. Following those matches, they will travel to Billerica to take on Shawsheen Tech, a team that also remains undefeated in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions.
Cross country teams edge Mystic, remain undefeated
