The Melrose High School cross country teams competed in a tri-meet Tuesday afternoon at Reading Memorial High School against a pair of tough opponents in Reading, and Lexington.

Melrose seemed outmatched against the Rockets and the Minutemen, two teams that are known for being  powerhouses in the Middlesex League. The end result was a pail of lopsided losses for both the boys and girls. 

Despite the one-sided outcome, several Melrose runners had strong showings, including Anna Whalen, a junior, who came in eighth place in the girls meet with a time of 19:20.

The Melrose varsity boys unfortunately were unable to keep up, and did not break into the top fifteen in their meet.  

Reading's Micayla Oniskey shattered a school record when she ran the 3.1 mile coarse with a time of 17:28, beating the original record by a staggering 30 seconds.

"(The record) has not been touched in five years, and she beat it by 30 seconds," said Reading boys and girls coach Michael Connelly. 

Despite Oniskey's strong performance, Lexington came in first place, defeating both Reading teams and both Melrose teams.

The Rockets did defeat Melrose, nonetheless, with scores of 18-43 (girls) and 15-50 (boys). 

Readings' girls team lost by just one point to Lexington, 28-29. Since the score was tied after taking the top five runners into account, the victor was determined by comparing both teams' sixth runners.

It turned out Reading's sixth runner, Elyssa Bond, was defeated by Lexington's sixth runner, Emma Vaughan by mere seconds. 

"The Reading and Lexington girls' meet was the closest it could possibly be in a cross country meet," Connolly said. "They don't come any closer than they did today," he added.

Reading's Victoria Perez also had a strong showing, coming in second with a time of 18:10. Perez greatly influenced the close nature of the meet. 

The Reading boys did not have such a close match againt Lexington and were defeated 17-45. Despite the one-sided score, Reading's Captain Brad Porter ran well, coming in fourth with a time of 15:31. 

The Lexington boys took the top three spots, and Nathaniel Adams came in first with a time of 15:13, followed by captains Ammanual Abute (15:30), and Samuel Jones (15:30). 

"We've been improving as a team every meet, and today proved it with the one, two, three finish against a very good Reading team who ran well today. Everyone just keeps improving and it's amazing," said the Lexington boys' coach Bill Babcock. 

Next up, the Red Raiders will take on Wakefield on Tuesday, Oct. 26.