GARDNER — They are part of a group that has helped Mohawk Trail’s storied program win 95 percent of its dual meets during the past 44 years.

That nearly half century of excellence was on display Saturday when Mohawk finished eighth as a team at the state Division II girls’ cross country meet at Gardner Municipal Golf Course. For a three-time state champion, that finish was very rewarding because the Warriors are a team laden with talented underclassmen.

Among them are the terrific trio of Jackie Wells, Meghan Davis and Lilly Wells, who all finished among the top 40 runners.

“What leaders they are, and we are fortunate to have them,” Mohawk coach Joe Chadwick said. “They carried us as we slowly got the other girls ready.”

Among those other girls are Carly Cusimano and Riley Hayward, who also earned valuable points to help the Warriors to a top-10 finish.

“We were able to slowly build them up rather than throw them right into the fire,” Chadwick said “They learned what it’s like to be on a Mohawk cross country team, which has a tremendous amount of history — long before I started coaching.”

Changes were made to the Gardner course to make it more challenging. The route now includes more hills that were not in play in previous years.

“It was a demanding course,” Chadwick said. “Our young runners have come a long way.”

A subplot to the meet was the friendly competition between arguably the best two of WMass’ top female Division II runners. Eighth-grader Jackie Wells and sectional individual champion Emma Jourdain of Lenox ran neck and neck during the race. They spent most of the race encouraging one another. It showed their level of mutual respect.

“Emma really pushed me,” Wells said. “I just can’t say how proud I am of my teammates. They inspire me so much and I certainly would not be running this good if I didn’t have them.”

Wells finished 11th after completing the 2.9-mile course in 19 minutes 48 seconds, two seconds ahead of Jourdain, who placed 13th.

“We kept encouraging each other during the race,” Wells said. “There was definitely more competition in this race, and we had people to look up to.”

Lenox finished second overall.

Davis, a sophomore, earned a spot among the top 20, finishing 17h in 20:03.

“The course was very hilly but we have a lot of hills in Western Mass.,” Davis said. ”

Junior Lilly Wells was 39th in 20:47.

“I am so proud of Jackie and Meghan — they both worked so hard all season,” Wells said. “We work so well together, both in school and athletics. We all bring different things to the table.”

Mohawk freshman Carly Cusimano was 134th in 22:56. Seventh-grader Riley Hayward was 144th in 23:33.

The Warriors may have only scratched the surface with their performance.

“We all love running for Joe Chadwick,” Lilly Wells said.

Greenfield’s Amy O’Sullivan finished 50th in 20:59. Green Wave teammate Jamie Day was 99th in 22:03.

Boys’ meet

Frontier’s Alex Sharp learned a valuable lesson.

Despite warnings from coaches Bob Smith and Walt Flynn not to go out too fast, Sharp let himself get caught up in the moment.

“I went out way too fast and tanked at the end,” Sharp said. “I won’t let that happen again.”

Sharp, a sophomore, finished the race in 18:14.

“I’m disappointed — not with my time, but the way I ran the race,” he said.

Sharp said he ran the first mile in 5:15 instead of the planned 5:34.

Carsten Carey was not able to run due to a calf injury, which hurt the Red Hawks’ team score.

Still, the future is bright for the Red Hawks, who return four of their top five runners from a squad that placed second in WMass.

“We put four guys in between 19:10 and 19:34,” Smith said. “This course was more challenging than it used to be and our guys will learn from this.”

Jake Meier finished 146th in 19:11 for the Red Hawks, while teammate Ben Litskoski took 154th in 19:20. Aaron Dorshow was 156th in 19:25. Andy Paul was 160th in 19:34.

Frontier finished 20th, an outcome that left the Red Hawks excited about their future.

Mohawk’s Zach Coburn finished 120th in 18:38, while teammate Seth Hoynoski was 150th in 19:15. Greenfield’s Henry Howe was 162nd in 19:40.