St. John's Prep Tristan Shelgren en route to his victory in last year's 'G' race.
MANHATTAN INVITATIONAL
The Bay State has certainly had its share of talented individuals compete in one of the biggest meets in the northeast region. The 2.5-mile race has included past stars such as Hanover's Georgia Griffin, Bromfield's Emily Jones, Lincoln-Sudbury's Ariel Keklak, Belmont's Victor Gras, Newton North's Chris Barnicle, Seekonk's Bill Crowley, Brookline's Jonathon Riley and current Nike Oregon Project coach amd former World Class marathoner Alberto Salazar, a Wayland grad. All eight runners are among the top 60 fastest in their respective divisions at the historic race. This weekend, the featured Eastern Division races will be minus MA schools, but there will still be quite a few competing in the lettered races, some of which could make some noise at Van Cortlandt. The biggest could come in the 'D' boys' race, where St. John's Prep is among the team that will toe the line. Of course, leading the Eagles is one of the hottest runners in the state, Tristan Shelgren. Shelgren captured the Championship races at the Ocean State Invitational and the Frank Kelley Invitational this fall. He has indicated that he's focusing on an all-out effort in the Big Apple. Last year he won the 'G' race with a personal best of 12:44. With the way he has been competing this fall, clocking 15:32 for 5K at Ocean State and 15:24 at Frank Kelley, he appears primed for a sub 12:30 effort this weekend, which should equate to another 'W' on the trails. That time would put him in the top 100 all-time best at Manhattan!
Check out below the MA teams entered at Manhattan.
'A' Race - Boys (12:51)
Somerville
'A' Race - Girls (1:03 p.m.)
Chelmsford
'B' Race - Boys (1:15 p.m.)
Catholic Memorial
Westford Academy
Chelmsford
'B' Race - Girls (1:27 p.m.)
Sandwich
'C' Race - Girls (1:51 p.m.)
Somerville
Lowell
'D' Race - Boys (2:03 p.m.)
Sandwich
St. John's Prep
'E' Race - Girls (3:22 p.m.)
Westford Academy