9/12 Jess Rutter and Ashley Willox finished 1-2 to lead a victory over Foxboro and Stoughton. It had to be considered a "team affair" since the minimum allowable number of NA runners came to the starting line - all figuring in the scoring.

Less than twenty four hours before the meet it looked like NA was facing a double forfeit. A combination of injury and sickness brought the already small squad down to four runners. But Ashley Nerz volunteered to give it a try despite a painful IT Band problem, hoping to just finish the race, thereby giving her teammates the opportunity to try to win it with a strong up front performance.

Disaster nearly struck at the beginning as the lead Foxboro runner, Laura Hoyt, and Rutter and Willcox all missed an important turn after crossing the first road. By the time they recovered they lost much of their lead over the pack and Hoyt's slim lead over the NA duo had turned into a small deficit.

By the mile mark Rutter and Willox had opened a ten-second lead. Hoyt was closely followed by Zimmerman of Stoughton. A pack of three more Stoughton runners and Joanne Oleksky (FX) were next with Andrea McKim on their heels.

In the meet against Foxboro both Kani Timm and Ashley Nerz were trailing the fifth runner but within striking distance. At this point Willox and Rutter chose to push the pace attempting to break contact with Hoyt - realizing they did not want to get in a kickers duel at the end. Over the next mile they increased the lead to twenty seconds.

McKim was satisfied to hold her position behind the second pack, both confident in her kick and willing to see who would fade first. Meanwhile Timm stepped up her pace, passing Foxboro's fifth and steadily increasing her lead. Nerz was forced to slow to a jog at this point and the goal became just to finish.

Meanwhile the strategy of Rutter and Willox was paying off. Although Hoyt gamely battled over the last half mile she wasn't able to reel in the leaders and settled for third behind the Rocketeeer's 1-2 finish. For Rutter it was a career defining race. Having played soccer for two years she now had gained first place in an XC race for her first time.

Now it became McKim's turn to bear down. Finding herself in 6th with 1/2 mile to go she opened up her stride and went after the two runners ahead. At this point Olesky of FX held a 20 second advantage and Zimmerman of Stoughton was up by 5 seconds. But McKim's strength as one of the league's better half milers made the difference. She measured the distance perfectly, passing both within sight of the tape and holding a scant 3 second lead at the end, placing 4th overall. A host of both Foxboro and Stoughton runners followed but NA's Timm beat the #5 for both teams solidifying the team wins if Nerz could finish.

Though it was a tough race for a runner more used to a 5:50 mile pace, Nerz was able to hang on and assure the victory. Through the tears a well-deserved smile could be detected.