After the top six teams in the rankings, there’s a noticeable drop-off among the remaining programs in our top 10. For the No. 10 spot, we’re going with a team that has consistently fielded competitive squads in both track and cross-country — Smithfield.
The Sentinels earn the nod here, though a few challengers could certainly push them out of the top 10 as the season unfolds. Last fall, they placed seventh at the Class B Championships and finished 18th out of 21 teams at the State Meet. While those results weren’t standout, there’s reason for optimism this year: their top four finishers were all underclassmen.
Junior Meaghan Bennett (22:14.99), sophomore MacKenzie Ahern (22:20.17), junior Anabelle Lally (22:27.59), and sophomore Ella Koconis (22:47.69) are all back and expected to lead the charge. In total, six of the team’s top seven return, including sophomores Kenza Barkouchi (24:19.85) and Autumn Fallon (24:24.80).
With experience on their side and room to improve, Smithfield could be a sleeper team to watch this fall.
