WESTFIELD — The Western Massachusetts Cross Country Championships are set to take place at Stanley Park in Westfield this weekend, with 10 local schools in action throughout the day on Sunday.

The Class B girls and boys races will begin in the morning, where Belchertown, Easthampton, Frontier, Hampshire, Gateway and PVCICS will compete, followed by the girls and boys junior varsity races, then capped off with the Class A girls and boys in the afternoon – where Amherst, Holyoke, Granby and Northampton compete.

Kicking things off in the morning are the Class B girls starting at 10 a.m. Last year, Hampshire freshman Kathleen Barry cruised to a third-place finish in the race, and she once again leads the charge for the Raiders now as a sophomore. Barry will look to break the 20-minute plateau after turning in a time of 20:22.6 in 2023.

Sylvie DiBartolomeo (ninth, 21:14.30) of Frontier also posted a top 10 finish last season, and the now senior hopes to propel the Redhawks to another strong outing this time around. Hopkins’ Caprial DiBartolomeo (junior) is a standout individual as well in the Class B girls race, having cracked the top 15 in the past.

Sicily Chase (Hampshire), Liv Christensen (Frontier) and Alexandra Henrichon (Hampshire) are a few names to keep an eye as are many more, with a handful of strong locals competing in the Class B girls race on Sunday. The Raiders girls went undefeated in the Pioneer League South to win the league title.

On the boys side in Class B, Evan Hedlund of Frontier came extremely close to winning the entire thing as a freshman, so he’s undoubtedly one of the favorites coming back as a sophomore this weekend, as is his teammate Luke Howard.

Grafton Tolopko will spearhead the Pioneer North champion PVCICS boys team, Oscar Schiff leads Hampshire (which also won the Pioneer South just like the girls) and Ben Les is a runner to watch out of Belchertown.

The Class A race will likely be dominated by Northampton and Amherst, just as it was in 2023. For the girls, Northampton’s Maeve O’Neil is one of the favorites, as she hopes to improve on her fourth-place finish from a year ago. Her sister, Mairead O’Neil, took seventh and is now a year older (sophomore) and ready to crack the top five.

Tess Geis-Benton and Charlotte Shimpach are other very strong runners for the Blue Devils.

Amherst has a plethora of solid participants in Sunday’s race, including Elizabeth Sawicki, Isla Cusick, Lily Pope, Felix Goeckel and several others. Holyoke will also have a handful of runners competing on Sunday, while Granby’s Addison Hill (eighth grade) is another runner to watch.

On the boys side for Class A, Owen Daggett and Xander Lane put up solid times as freshman last fall and will be eyeing top 20 finishes. Gus Frey and Pranav Belur are back as well after top 40 finishes in 2o23.

‘The Canes are hoping to get a strong performance out of sophomore Calvin Miller, who has been fantastic throughout the regular season. Juniors Nico Lisle and Sam Woodruff are key contributors as well as Owen Platt and Alden Pope.

Granby junior Nathan Hutchinson has a knack for finishing at the top of the pack, and he’s done so throughout his career whether it be doing long distance events in indoor or outdoor track or running cross country. He finished 12th in Western Mass. last year and eyes the top 10 this time around.