Mystic Valley Girls Cross Country Opens Season with Back-to-Back Wins

By Emily Brennan

Mystic Valley’s girls’ cross-country team (2-0) is off to a strong start this fall, opening the season with consecutive victories over Minuteman and Nashoba Tech to improve to 2-0. The Eagles opened their season September 6th with a 24-37 victory over Minuteman on their home course.

Senior Lily Abbott led the way for Mystic Valley, placing second overall with a time of 23:45. Rachael Nabstedt followed with a fourth-place finish in 28:46. Junior Swarada Wadekar made an immediate impact in her varsity debut, finishing third for the Eagles and fifth overall with a time of 30:10. Her performance helped Mystic Valley secure the season-opening victory on what head coach Jarryd Wick described as one of the more challenging courses in the league.

Mystic Valley carried that momentum into its second meet on September 16th, defeating Nashoba Tech, 20-41, in a meet hosted by Shawsheen Tech. This time, Abbott moved to the top of the individual standings, taking an early lead and holding it throughout the race before crossing the finish line first at 23:43. Nabstedt placed third against Nashoba Tech with a time of 28:57, while Wadekar added another top five performance, finishing fourth in 30:56.

Sophomore Gisele Moreira and junior Nura Borogovac rounded out the Eagles’ scoring five with times of 32:32 and 33:46, respectively. Borogovac showed significant early-season improvement, finishing a full minute faster than she did in Mystic Valley’s season opener.

“The Mystic Valley girls showed up ready to compete and ran well against Nashoba Tech,” Wick said. “Our newcomers to the team continue to run well and make our team stronger than we were this time last year. I’m very proud of the girls and how the season has started.”

Mystic Valley will have a break from competition before returning to action October 7th at Innovation Academy.