The next starting line

After JV, the girls varsity gathered for their turn. Five Mansfield runners stood together for a photograph, smiling at the camera. A few moments earlier, they had drawn into a small huddle on the grass.

The same field held the next race. King Philip’s yellow singlets and Mansfield’s green moved toward the line, with the trees behind them and the open course ahead.

Room between the runners

The group began close together. Near the soccer goals, a Mansfield runner came through alongside King Philip runners; a little farther on, the field had more room between its runners.

The course changed the view without changing the work. Across gravel, along the edge of the trees, and back onto open grass, each runner kept moving through the same marked route.

Through the finish lane

Leanna Levesque finished first in 19:45, a personal best in the posted results. King Philip took the next three places, and Mansfield’s Evey Snyder was fifth in 22:58.

Emily Taber, Neila Igo, and Morgan Ferrari completed Mansfield’s five-runner varsity team. The posted team score favored King Philip, 22–37. Leanna’s individual win and the rest of the team’s finishes were part of the same afternoon, one runner following another through the lane.

Before the race, they had stood together at the edge of the field. Now each had a finish to bring back to the team. With the girls race complete, the boys varsity would be the last group to take the line.