Walpole cross country runs down Weymouth

By Ken Chaisson
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter

On Wednesday October 15, 2025 the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams from Walpole faced their Weymouth equivalents at Walpole High School.   

It was also Senior Day marking the last meet for the seniors at Walpole High School’s course. It’s the same course that former coach Jim Erker ran in 1959: 66 years ago.

Tim Giblin is the coach of the Walpole boys’ team. Giblin has 25 runners in the program this year with 15 varsity runners. The boys’ team finished 4th at last year’s Division 2A State Championship at Fort Devens. Leading the boys’ team in 2025 are captains Luke Zahurak and Ethan Hunt.

The boys finished 2nd to Concord-Carlisle as a team in the Varsity “C” Division at the MSTCA Bay State Invitational at the Wrentham Development Center.  With four medalists: Joe Curran (25th), Sawyer Regan (20th), Asher Kingman (17th) and last but not least, Zahurak who placed first overall with a new 5k school record of 15:34.00. Mike Scanlon’s previous record had stood since 1984!  Zahurak also holds the course record at Walpole High School. Zahurak won the dual meet against Weymouth with a personal best time of 13:00 over the 2.57 mile track.

The Walpole boys won the dual meet as a team, 23-38, with runners finishing in every position from fourth through tenth. Curran, Hunt and Owen Ahlfont all contributed PRs over the Town Forest course. Kingman and Ethan Borossi also added critical points. With the win, the boys’ clinched the Herget Division title.

The girls’ head coach, Conor Cashman, has a solid squad once again.  The team finished 2nd at last year’s Division 2A State Championship behind only Westwood.  They finished 9th at the all states.  The program has 20 athletes this season. The varsity team of 12 racers gets their leadership from the captains Ila Zollo, Bridget Tierney and Lily McManus. Tierney won the dual meet with Weymouth leading throughout and extending her lead towards the end of the race finishing in a time of 16:33. Lily McManus garnered a 4th place finish while Jackie Anketell and Lila Zahurak finished 7th and 8th respectively.  Through the top 8 finishers, the meet was tied.  Weymouth grabbed the next two slots to win the team dual meet, 25-31.

The entire Timberwolf squad achieved personal bests over the 2.57 mile course.

Both teams have their eyes on the Bay State Conference Championships later in October followed by more regional and state level meets in November.  Running each season against large schools in the conference prepares them well for state meets against schools closer to their size.