Congratulations to the Winsor cross country team who secured their 20th Eastern Independent League Cross Country Championship with a 1–2–3 sweep. “The team controlled the race from the gun,” shared longtime Cross Country Coach Moriah Musto of the EIL race. The very next weekend, the team competed against the 14 largest prep schools in New England in the Division 1 NEPSTA Championships where they took home a plaque for fourth place. “It is our best finish since 2019,” explained Coach Musto, adding, “We were thrilled and had to contain the cheers while they announced our fourth place finish.”

Winsor traveled to Chase Farm in Lincoln, Rhode Island for the EIL race and students ran in unseasonably high fall temperatures that broke Boston and Providence heat records. Gabrielle Peskin ’28, Tenney Bluman ’26, and Gracie Zhou ’26 put themselves in the front pack early with Leila Andermann ’27 nearby battling with runners from the Wheeler School. Gabrielle broke from the field at the mile to win her first EIL title in a time of 20:03, which Coach Musto praised as, “a very strong time, especially in the heat and on the rolling Chase Farm course.” Tenney and Gracie distanced themselves from the pack to complete the 1–2–3 sweep with times of 20:36 and 20:45 respectively. For the first time since 2004, Winsor’s runners finished in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.  

Behind the front pack Avery Fantasia ’29 and Lara do Rosario ’26 were working hard in the top 15 with an incredible pack of Julica Hatabu ’28, Ellie Flaim ’30, and Berit Morrissey ’27 while Avaleen Alsan ’29, Caitlin Wang ’25 and Anna Oh ’28 worked together to finish in the top 30. 

Despite the punishing heat, “Winsor looked dominant,” shared Coach Musto. When the race was over, Winsor’s top 5 had scored just 23 points, beating the second place team by 50 points. In an impressive measure of depth, the 8–12 “JV scorers” would have tallied just 105 points, enough for a 3rd place finish. 

“Every single team member played a role in this victory,” said Coach Musto. “The team entered EILs confident and favored but the performance in this heat exceeded expectations.”

For the Division 1 NEPSTA Championships, the team traveled to Hotchkiss in Lakeville, Connecticut. “We knew that in order to take home hardware (NEPSTA plaques are awarded to the top four teams) we would need to run very well and have a few things break our way. We felt prepared and cautiously optimistic, but also fully cognizant that this would be our hardest race on a very challenging course,” explained Coach Musto.

Winsor got out very well with Gabrielle, Gracie and Tenney all putting themselves in the top 20. Leila, Avery and Lara were all chasing and battling for positions in a sea of very fast runners. With the race finished, Winsor held positions in 9, 11, 13, 41, 61, and 67 with several personal records in the group. “We knew that a tally of 135 was very strong,” said Coach Musto, who hoped it was enough for a plaque.

The team ultimately placed fourth and brought hardware home to Pilgrim Road. “We are so proud of the team for putting it together to achieve this goal. We had many plot twists this season but ran very well when it mattered, ending the season on a very high note,” said Coach Musto.

“Thank you to the many parents and family members who came out to cheer. We truly appreciate your support of Winsor cross country,” she added.