WRENTHAM - Newburyport's Nick Carleo made a strong case for the title of top cross country runner in Massachusetts at yesterday's Frank Kelly Invitational.
Racing on the spongy, 3.1-mile Wrentham Developmental Center course in warm, sunny conditions, the slim junior battled Burlington's Paul Hogan and Matt Mahoney of Swampscott through a fast 4:50 opening mile and 10-flat at 2. Carleo took the lead for the last time with a half mile to go and surged across the finish line in a sterling 15 minutes, 34.71 seconds to defend his title. Carleo's time was the fastest of the day and put him just ahead of Hogan (15:38.4) and Mahoney (15:44.4). Coming on the heels of a record-breaking performance on his home course, Carleo believes his conditioning is ahead of schedule this fall. And he wanted to send a message to Hogan as well, after being beaten soundly last fall at the Div. 2 State title race at Northfield Mountain.
"I have issues with getting off at the gun," said Carleo. "Usually I get boxed in. My goal today was really to get out. I went out faster and I'm happy with it. Paul killed me last year at all-states so I knew it wasn't going to be easy." Carleo had no problem letting the race be decided in the final 800 meters. A fast finish wound up playing right into his wheel house. "Last year I won this by pretty much kicking the last 800 meters and breaking them," Carleo said. "That's what I did this year and it worked out fine. "I think I'm ahead of of last year. My goal was to beat my (3 mile) course record by a little. It was 15:12 and I ran 14:59. I'm in way better shape than I thought. I'm happy where I am right now."
Newburyport had to settle for second in the team scoring with 102 points. Tewksbury had three runners in the top 10 to take first with 97 points. Joe Darrigo was sixth in 16:29.2, Anthony Darrigo took eighth in 16:34.4 and Mike Famiglietti clocked a 16:40.8 for 10th.
The Div. 1 race was a slugfest over the last 150 meters with Lowell's Johnny Abraham overtaking Peabody's Drew Fossa and holding on for the 15:52.3 win. Fossa was 10 meters back in 15:54.6 and Sam Conway of Minnechaug took third in 15:59.5. Cambridge sophomore Sam Stubbs nailed down fourth with a 16:01.4 and Wellesley's Tom D'Anieri was fifth in 16:04.8.
A conservative 5:07 opening mile resulted in a huge lead pack of 18 runners with Abraham tucked in the middle. That number dwindled down to six by 2 miles before breaking up a half mile later.
Abraham's kick was the difference in the closing stages. "I didn't have much but I had a little at the end," said Abraham. "I've never won a big race like this. We (Lowell) have to keep working. We have a lot of work to do. We have to keep pushing."
Stubbs led Cambridge to the team title with 65 points to outdistance Peabody's 83 points and the 85 turned in by Lowell.
The most impressive performance of the day, though, came in the Div. 1 Freshman race and the name was a familiar one. Marcelo Rocha, the younger brother of two-time state champion Catarina Rocha, proved he is on his way to making a name for himself by running the field into the ground. Rocha was running solo by the mile and never faltered as he scorched the 2.1-mile course with a sizzling 9:44.3 to win by an intimidating 34 seconds. Lowell's Anthony Rodriguez was left behind in second, but still ran an impressive 10:19. Brockton's Chris McCaffrey was third in 10:32.7.
Melrose's Adam Cook was slower than he wanted to be at the mile, but he made up for it over the second mile, pulling away for a win in the Div. 2 Freshman race with a 10:21. Wayland's Graham Macklin took second in 10:31.6 and Melrose's Sean Conlan was third in 10:34.4. Cook ran hard to the tape and was sure to keep a safe distance between himself and the pack.
"I was a little back in the pack at the start and then I just picked it up and kept going," he said. "I felt comfortable, but I wanted to hit 5:30. I don't like to look back in a race. That's what you should never do. "I didn't know who was behind me. I just kept running my hardest. I didn't know I had it until I was finished."
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