By Jeff Barlett
For the first time in a few years, there was no clear individual favorite heading into the Northeast Conference Championships on Saturday afternoon at Bradley Palmer State Park. Instead, a few individuals in each race were racing for glory, and among the team race a few questions were to be answered: could the 1-2-3 punch of the Beverly girls hold off the depth of the Marblehead girls in a larger race? Would the Peabody boys continue to be the only school to win an NEC Meet title since they joined the NEC? Last year, the top three girls teams all finished within ten points of each other. With multiple teams ranked within the state for the respective divisions, this looked to be quite the battle.
Runners enjoyed unseasonably warm temperatures and a course with a few mud spots. Racing first, the varsity girls race saw a huge pack at the start as runners entered the woods. Coming down into the middle field loop, Beverly was in control, with three runners in the top five. The Gloucester girls had two within that pack, and Marblehead was in the hunt as well.
During the third loop, everything would change. The Beverly trio would split up, and entering the final straightaway Beverly's Julianna Curtin was holding off Sara Oliver of Marblehead. Curtin would fall during the final straight, but her second place finish helped Beverly secure the NEC team title with 42 points. Teammates Abby Walsh (6th), Julianna Wesley (7th), Maeve Monahan (13th), and Sheehan Gotsch (14th) provided the depth needed for the victory.
"I didn't think I was going to do very well because I wasn't close to the front," remarked Oliver after the race. "As I started to move up a little bit more, I got a little bit more hopeful. At the end when the Beverly girl (Curtin) fell, I didn't know why; I was so surprised. I just passed her; I felt kind of bad about it, actually. She was doing so well." Oliver is happy to be competing again after being sidelined with injury most of the season. "I've been out most of the season, this is my fourth race. I just want to be able to run the big meets and finish the season."
Marblehead (2nd; 51 points) and Peabody (3rd; 63 points) kept it close and Gloucester (4th; 81 points) was helped by two top five finishes from Christina Jones (3rd, 20:02) and Carly Curcuru (4th, 20:04).
Following in the footsteps of the first race, no one immediately took the lead during the varsity boys race. That would change as two predictable contenders emerged from the first loop ahead of the pack: AJ Ernst of Marblehead and Marcelo Rocha of Peabody. Both looked smooth and strong, but Ernst would put a big gap on Rocha during the third loop, and a strong finish earned him the victory with a time of 16:04. Rocha would finish second with an impressive 16:20, and Peabody would place three in the top five, with Riley Dowd (3rd, 16:26) and Jared Karakaedos (5th, 16:31) providing finishes that would make it very hard for anyone to beat Peabody. Gloucester's Everest Crawford (4th, 16:28) also finished in the top five.
"I just wanted to stay with Marcelo and then try to get him in the third loop. Put on the guns, I guess," remarked Ernst.
Peabody would win the NEC title with 31 points to remain the only team to win this meet since they entered the NEC. Marblehead (2nd, 51 points) and Gloucester (3rd, 63 points) were also close in the team battle.