HOCKOMOCK LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE
EASTON - After waging a battle with Pembroke's Christian Stafford at last week's Twilight Invitational to win in a sprint finish, King Philip's Owen Gonser wasn't about to let anyone sit on his shoulder and relax in Saturday's Hockomock League Cross Country Championships.
Gonser left the field behind at the start of the 3.1-mile Borderland State Park layout in bright, perfect conditions. The race for first was over when Gonser raced past the mile in 4:44, 11 seconds in front of the chase pack. Gonser never faltered as he sprinted across the finish line to defend his title in a swift 15 minutes, 47.66 seconds. Dan Romano led a Mansfield barrage of five runners in the top 10, taking second in 16:01.73. Teammate Val Madonna-Lendvai was third in 16:11.09.
Gonser seemed more excited by the prospect of strong finishes at the EMass and state meet than his second Hockomock title. "I felt good and now I have two weeks to put in some really hard workouts and get ready for the class meet," Gonser said. "I was 12th in the state meet last year and I'd like to improve 11 places. I went out hard because I was going for the record, but I kind of lost my focus at 2 miles."
Behind Romano and Madonna-Lendvai, Mansfield's Mike Duggan was fourth in 16:15.49 and Andrew Simons clinched eighth with a 16:39.93. Mike Yang was 10th in 16:43.83 and the Hornets' No. 6 harrier Jack Crawford had a very solid race for 12th in 16:46.19.
Mansfield head coach Julie Collins has brought her squad alone cautiously this season with its eyes set on the November meets. "None of them are really race sharp yet," said Collins. "They've only gone all out in the first meet and at Ocean State (Invitational). The top three have been cranking all season. I feel like they're ready to go if they stay healthy. This team rivals the best teams we've had in the past. It's going to be a good team (the next couple of years). We have good team depth. We're concentrating on 2013, but we're good for the future."
King Philip's Abbie Seaberg pushed the pace from the gun in the girls' race and had up to a dozen runners just 30 meters back at the mile. Six were still there at 2 miles, but Seaberg surged hard and pulled away to a 15-second win in 19:34.03. Oliver Ames claimed the next two positions on the way to the team title with 56 points. Emily Newman was second in 19:49.64 and Jillian McAuliffe finshed third in 19:50.67.
The team competition was exactly what is expected with solid teams competing against each other in late October. King Philip was a close second with 62 points and Franklin placed third with 71 points. Mansfield ran well as a team to put up 80 points for fourth.
"You go into a meet like this against King Philip, Franklin and Mansfield and hope you have just as much of a shot as anyone else," said legendary Oliver Ames coach Neil Levine. "It was one of the greatestHockomock League championship races. We're hitting our stride."
Seaberg admitted she was running scared for the first 2 miles, but was ready if e emerged from the pack to challenge her. The scenario was moot when Seaberg changed gears and pulled away over the last mile.
"If they had gone out crazy fast at the start I still would have stayed with them, but the pace wasn't too bad," said Seaberg. "Near the 2 mile it was a little scary because I knew they were right there so I really picked it up. I wanted to hold onto the leader. I felt really really good.
"(Going forward) honestly, I just want to do my best at the class meet and run well."