Projo GameTime Blog

Sometimes a victory has nothing to do with coming in first. The Burrillville girls cross country team is a perfect example of that. After placing fourth in the Northern Division with a 7-3 dual-meet record, the Broncos finished second at this year's Class C Championships - recording their highest finish since winning the title in 1983 and qualifying for the state meet in the process.

"We needed to finish in the top four at least to qualify because Mount and Smithfield had already qualified out of division," said Broncos coach Marty Crowley. "We knew it was going to be tough, having to beat East Greenwich, Scituate, Exeter-West Greenwich and Ponaganset running at home, among other teams."

Clocking a time of 21:59 on the Covered Bridge Trail, senior Namoi Takita led Burrillville with her sixth-place overall finish. Freshman Danielle Dumais (22:04) and sophomore Anna Dumais (22:05) were the Broncos' next two runners, finishing 10th and 11th, respectively. Freshman Lizzie Rogers followed a short time later, placing 37th in 23:51.

However, it was Burrillville's next runner - sophomore Kristy Poisson - who turned in the pivotal performance.

"She wasn't even supposed to run this race," Crowley explained. "I had to choose between her and another girl to fill out my varsity roster. I chose the other girl. Unfortunately, my number 5 runner got the flu, Kristy Poisson got the call and ran the race of her life, finishing 48th."

Poisson's points, indeed, proved crucial, as Burrillville (112 points) edged East Greenwich (113) by one point and Scituate (118) by six to take the second spot behind Class C champion Smithfield.

"This is an amazing accomplishment for these young ladies," Crowley said, "going from 12th to 2nd in the class meet in one year.

"What makes it even more special," he continued, "is that there is no indoor or outdoor
track program in place at Burrillville. (Only 3 individuals compete during the outdoor season, and Naomi is one of them.) Not too bad for a bunch of part-time runners. We are very proud of these young ladies and what they have accomplished. In our eyes they are already champions."

Placing 28th in a field of 140, Takita led Burrillville to a 12th-place finish at the State Championships a week later at Ponaganset.

 Tags  Burrillville cross country Marty Crowley

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