2013 HOCKOMOCK LEAGUE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
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By Jack Cooney
On a crisp, sunny morning at Borderland State Park, the Mansfield boys and the Oliver Ames girls earned team championships at the annual Hockomock League Cross Country Championships. Owen Gonser and Abbie Seaberg, both from King Philip (KP), both took home individual titles.
The boys varsity race kicked off the day. Senior Owen Gonser charged to the front and never looked back. The KP senior raced through the first mile in a quick 4:42 and hit the two mile mark at 9:58. The large crowd in attendance, however, was not sure who would emerge first from the woods at the 2.7 mile mark, as the public address system was not working properly at the time. When they saw Gonser, he was all alone with a commanding lead that he would maintain around the historic mansion to the finish line in 15:47.66, successfully defending his 2012 victory.
The boys team race was just as convincing, as the Mansfield boys placed 5 runners in the top 10, lead by juniors Dan Romano, senior captain Val Madonna-Lendvai, and junior Mike Duggan, who finished 2-3-4 respectively. The Hornets placed 5 runners in the top 10 to post a remarkably low 27 points to easily win their 11th straIght Hockomock League meet championship. Five other teams each placed one runner each in the top 10. Oliver Ames finished 2nd with 86 points to nip North Attleboro with 95 points, good for 3rd place.
Junior Abbie Seaberg, in her first season running cross country, was also a runaway winner. Abbie emerged from the woods, in her trademark high yellow socks, running strongly and confidently and strode to the finish in 19:34.03. After their races, both Seaberg and Gonser said their plans were to go out hard, take the lead, push through, and hold on. Both plans were perfectly executed.
Although very happy with her race, Seaberg anxiously awaited the team results shortly after her race. As it turned out, the Oliver Ames (OA) girls managed to just beat out King Philip, with OA winning with 56 points to KP’s 62. Franklin took home 3rd with 71 points to upend Mansfield who had 3 girls finish in the top 10 but had to settle for 4th place. OA was lead by Emily Newman and Jillian McAuliffe who finished one second apart in second and third.
The Hockomock League has one of the strongest tradition of statewide running excellence. Based on Saturday’s strong showing both individually and as teams, both the boys and girls from the Hock will be major factors in the upcoming divisional and all state meets.