NORTHFIELD — This was not exactly what Haverhill cross country coach Mike Maguire was hoping for.
But, after a rash of injuries and illness, including to senior standout Christine McNaughton, yesterday's sixth-place Division 1 All-State team finish was nothing to complain about.
"I'm very pleased with this team," said Maguire. "You have to take what's thrown at you and this team did that. It's survived a lot this year."
If there was one constant, it was junior Julie Solimine, who finished fourth in 19:25.6 over the hilly 3.1-mile Northfield Mountain course. That was four places better than her All-State finish as a sophomore.
Haverhill's second finisher was sophomore Jillian Meserve, who recovered from a late-season injury to come in 44th at 20:48.8. Beth Fullerton (68th), Mary Fullerton (75th) and sophomore Samantha Kelleher (81st) completed the Hillie scoring.
With Haverhill's sixth finisher, Bridget Twomey, also a sophomore, Haverhill will return four of its top six runners.
"The sophomores really contributed a lot to our success this year," said Maguire. "Hopefully, we'll be back here next year."
Methuen boys second
Behind Jared Reddy's third-place finish, Methuen finished second as a team in the Division 1 All-State meet, just four points behind defending champion Mansfield. It was the highest individual and team finish in Methuen history, according to the Ranger coaches.
Nevertheless, head coach Bill James was not satisfied.
"Our first four runners had a tremendous day, but our fifth guy was too far back," said Methuen coach Bill James. "It's hard to complain when you finish second, but we felt we could win it."
Andrew Stamatopulos was 22nd for the Rangers and Tyler Sullivan was 37th.
Individually, North Andover's Darryl Varney had a stellar race to earn all-state status, finishing 11th in 16:43.7, and the Knights finished 12th as a team.
Andover's Simon Voorhees came in 41st.
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