AMHERST - Lowell High went into Saturday's Amherst Invitational knowing very little about the 3.1-mile course on the grounds of Hampshire College. By late morning, Phil Maia's Red Raiders owned the rural, grassy layout and had taken their first step on the way to defending the Div. 1 state title earned last fall on Northfield Mountain.
The defending Div. 1 state champions placed four runners in the top 20 on the way to demolishing the competition for the team title. Led by Johnny Abraham who finished second in 16 minutes flat, the Red Raiders put up a stingy 55 points to easily defeat runner-up Shrewsbury's 117 points in their first invitational of the fall. The Red Raiders were at the front of the pack at the gun and had no problem with the quick 5:02 first mile. Behind Abraham, Randy Nong was fourth (16:09), Larry Carney was eigth (16:32) and Andrew Whitney was 17th (16:45). Lowell's No. 5 runner, Chris Gendron, was a strong 24th in 16:53.
Maia was pleased with the early-season effort of a team very eager to defend the title it won last November on Northfield Mountain. "We're just basically running off our fitness," he said. "The kids did their work over the summer and it's early in the season. It's a good beginning and the kids are excited."
The Lowell win added to the team's momentum that was prevalent during the cross country and track seasons from last year.
"We've never been here before and we wanted to see what it was like," said Maia. "It was a great first meet. The expectation to do well in the program is intense. There's a big expectation from the alumni to continue doing well. The kids understand that and take a lot of pride in how they perform. They're very happy they were able to come out here and win. We're excited. We'll just go from here."
Minnechaug's Samual Conway, who finished 13th in 2012, avenged a dual-meet loss last week to Westfield's Benjamin Doiron by taking the individual title in 15:58, which featured a tough duel with Abraham over the final 800 meters. Doiron took third in 16:03.
"I got caught a little back at the start," said a content Conway. "I knew the first mile was really fast. I sped up and used the first two miles of downhill to get out to a fast time."
Amherst Regional's Ryan Stender was fifth in 16:19 and the Shrewsbury duo of Jacob Starvaski and Jackson Southard were sixth and seventh in 16:26 and 16:31, respectively. Zachary Stempel of Danbury (CT) was ninth in 16:34 and Shrewsbury's William Shipman was 10th in 16:35.
Sheperd Hill's Stella Worters moved up a notch from her second-place finish last year to capture the girls' title in 18:47. Worters made it a point to stay within striking distance of the lead and made her move on the winding hill after 2 miles to take the lead from runner-up Carmen Bango of Woodstock Union. Bango was three seconds behind Worters in 18:50.
"I wanted to be in contact with the front," said an exhausted Worters in the medical tent. "I didn't really want to lead the race, but I wanted to see first. I charged up the last hill. At the top, I passed first (Bango) and tried to keep it."
The Pomperaug (CT) girls captured the team title with 133 points to edge out Mike Miller's Weymouth squad (140 points). Allyson Morin of Westfield was third overall in 18:55 and Wachusett's teriffic talent, Colleen Sands, checked in at fourth with a 19:11. Juleanna Schultz of Shepherd Hill took fifth behind Worters in 19:15 and Weymouth's Ashley Betts ran a controlled race to lead the Wildcats with her sixth-place finish in 19:19.
"My coach wanted us to stay in a pack and then the second mile we could go," said Betts.
Tyngsborough surely has a strong looking future based on its peformance in the freshman girls' race. Eighth-grader Jessica Gendreau pulled away from teammates Lexi Casey, Jayl Fraser-Mines and Makenna Hunt in the final 50 meters to win in 20:29, one second in front of Casey. Tyngsborough had two more runners in the top 10, Catie Riley and Kyle Fraser-Mines, to clinch the team title with a stellar 17 points. Wachusett was second with 89 points and Brookline was third with its 94 points.
Gendreau credited her teammates for helping her in the early going. "We wanted to stay together and work together," she said. "I got to the straightaway and really started to sprint. We were together and started to go our own way."
Lowell's Anthony Rodriguez battled Keene (NH's) Jonathan Allard and finished a second back in 17:34. Pomperaug took the team title with 31 points in front of Lowell's 56 points.
"We were together most of the way," said Rodriguez. "When we hit the farm (just past 2 miles) we started to split up. I was waiting for the end to kick. I really wanted to come in first. He was behind me coming up the hill and then he pulled up to me. I'm still pretty happy."