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Junior Claire Howlett finished ninth overall and earned a trip to this weekend’s New England championships. Senior teammate Nicole Ambrosecchio suffered a hamstring injury midway through the race and did not finish. She also was a contender to make her first New England race. Westhill, which qualified as a team for the first time, did not post a team score with just four runners completing the race.
Howlett finished in 19:43, and was the fourth girl from the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
“She was fourth or fifth near the halfway point of the race,’’ coach Ed Lane said. “She faded a little bit. It’s not too bad considering all the stuff that has been going on.”
Ambrosecchio seemed on track for her first trip to New Englands before the injury.
“This was the worst,’’ Lane said. “This was her fourth year running in the Open. Last year, she kind of got overwhelmed. She was upset, but she’ll be all right.”
Westhill endured a roller-coaster season, in which it had to forfeit a few races because it only had four runners.
"I’m happy we got to the State Open for the first time,’’ Lane said. “After the kind of season we had? That was a great accomplishment. I’m really happy for them.”
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