Winchester Cross Country Sweeps Melrose in Season Opener

The Winchester cross country teams started their season strong with a clean sweep over Melrose at Horn Pond. Both the Varsity and JV squads — girls and boys alike — came away with wins in the opening meet.

Girls Cross Country team prior to the meet.

For the Varsity girls, confidence was high heading in, and they delivered as expected. The JV girls also impressed, with nearly every runner improving on their scrimmage times from earlier in the season. According to senior captain Helen Li, “JV girls we're all just looking to improve our times from the scrimmage that we had earlier in the season and actually most of us were able to with a lot of us improving. You know, from 30 seconds faster to even a minute.”

Actually, a standout performance came from freshman Chloe Chan, who turned heads by running a 20:20 5K — an outstanding result for her first Varsity race.

On the boys’ side, Varsity and JV also secured victories. The highlight of the day came from lead runner Noah Demaske. In a thrilling finish, Demaske held off two charging Melrose competitors down the final stretch, surging ahead to secure first place and seal the team win.

The Horn Pond course provided a challenging backdrop, but Winchester handled it with poise. With both the boys’ and girls’ teams sweeping their races, the meet was a strong statement to open the season and a promising sign of things to come.

Author: Tommy Kowalczuk, WHS Class of 2026