Brookline High School's cross country team split a pair of races Saturday, Sept. 19, beating Bay State Conference rival Natick 24-35 and losing to Milton 18-45 at the program's Shoulder Check meet.

The dual meet doubled as a mental health awareness event. The Brookline XC / T&F team account posted on X that the Warriors thanked Natick and Milton for participating in the Shoulder Check pledge. The Shoulder Check initiative encourages students to check in on peers' mental health.

In cross country, the lowest team score wins. Brookline's 24 comfortably topped Natick's 35, but Milton packed its runners tightly enough to post an 18 against Brookline's 45.

The win over Natick carries extra weight. The Redhawks finished second behind Brookline at the Bay State Conference Championship, the Division 1B Championship and the Meet of Champions last season, according to a MassLive preseason notebook published Sept. 7.

The Warriors are chasing a fifth consecutive state title this fall after completing a historic four-peat in 2025. No Massachusetts boys' program had won four Division 1 championships in a row since Gloucester's streak reached four in 1997. Head coach Mike Glennon told MassLive in a Sept. 7 preseason feature that the program always targets the title, adding that a strong field of competitors makes the pursuit more challenging this year.

Brookline returns two senior front-runners from last year's championship squad. Liam Hartmann placed fifth at both the Meet of Champions and the Division 1A Championship and ran a 15:36.8 at the Bay State Conference race. Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem finished sixth at the conference race in 15:45.7 and 10th at Division 1A, according to MassLive.

Individual results from Saturday's meet were not available. With Hartmann and Abdel-Dayem leading the pack, the Warriors will look to build on the Natick win as they push toward a fifth straight title.