St. John's Ben Kovacs (1002) and Newton North's Andrew Mah (811) leading the Donahue Race.
What Happened In 2016?
In last year's event, which took place at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course, Peabody grad Marcelo Rocha posted the fastest time of the day, winning the Ben Knowlton race in 15 minutes, 57 seconds. Lowell wrapped up the team title, easily defeating Peabody, 28-94. Lowell had all five of its scoring runners among the first 11 placements. St. John's and star senior Ben Kovacs were victors in the Dick Donahue Race. In the closest race of the meet, Kovacs held off Newton North's Andrew Mah by a mere second to win with a time of 16:23. St. John's Joshua Rahn was also under 16:30, crossing the line at 16:29. The Pioneers cruised to the team title with a 34-81 decision over runner-up Lexington. In the Bob Cali Race, St. John Prep's Tristan Shelgren, one of our state's top harriers this fall, posted a convincing victory with his time of 16:18. Patrick Nero of Acton-Boxborough was second in 16:53. Wellesley claimed the team prize by a score of 114-121 over second-place Wachusett. Jameson O'Neil paced the Raiders by placing sixth overall in 17:07.0.
For the girls, it was Grace Connolly of Natick that produced the fastest time. She won the Koutonen Race with a fast 18:31 over Gardner's tough 5K terrain. She was nearly two minutes ahead of her closest pursuer. Lowell won a tight team competition, scoring 77 points, Peabody was second with 86 and Newburyport finished third with 91. Behind an individual victory from Emily Sessa, Tewksbury Memorial cruised to the title in the Rich Riley Race. Sessa was timed in 19:41.0. Sophomore Eve Feuerbach of Manchester Essex was second in 19:52. Tewksbury had their top five scoring runners finish 15th or better and scored a low 39 points. Milton's 1-2 finish in the Kevin Maloney Race set the tone to a convincing triumph. The Redmen's Bridget MItchell (18:54.0) and Colette O'Leary (19:35.0) secured the top two positions for Tewksbury, which scored 32 points, a whopping 77 points ahead of Wachusett Regional.