All State Division 1: Richards, Montague State Champs !
Mansfield Boys and Needham Girls Top Teams
GARDNER - The universal understanding in Massachusetts running circles was that the only way Bishop Feehan's Abbie McNulty wouldn't win the Div. 1 All-State race was by some bizarre force of nature.
Instead, it appears a fast-early pace got the better of the Stanford-bound starlet. Last year's Div. 2 state champion tore through the first mile in just over 5 minutes on the deceivingly-tough, revamped 2.9-mile track at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course. By the time McNulty approached the 2-mile mark her legs were starting to buckle and she collapsed with exhaustion.
And suddenly Lowell sophomore Kaley Richards found herself in first place. Richards was shocked and upset to see McNulty lying on the ground, exhausted. She maintained her pace and crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 53.79 seconds for the victory. Sydney Clary of Lincoln-Sudbury took second in 17:11.28 and Needham's Margie Cullen was third in 17:25.99.
Richards was surprised by the turn of events that put her in first place with a mile to go. "I was shocked," she said. "I felt really bad. She's an amazing runner. I was excited that I had the chance to win. I'm very happy. I wasn't sure if I had it or not. I was scared and happy at the same time."
Sarah Armstrong joined teammate Cullen in the top 10, finishing fifth in 17:35.90, to lead the Rockets to the team title with 83 points. Lincoln-Sudbury took second with 109 points and Bishop Feehan still managed third, despite McNulty's fall, with 126 points.
Mansfield came out on top in the tight Div. 1 boys' team competition. The Hornets' Dan Romano was 12th in 14:57.84 and Mike Duggan took 15th in 15:01.75. Julie Collins' crew put up 105 points to beat out defending champion Lowell (134 points) and Peabody (166 points). Mansfield's win was its' third in six years and gives the Hornets the distinction of capturing team titles at Gardner, Northfield Mountain and Franklin Park.
"Today things really went our way," said Collins of the Div. 2 EMass champions."The plan was, with the tight start, I wanted them to get out in the top 25 the first 400. We wanted to have them in a good position and then maintain position until the turnaround point on the course. I felt like this was the sort of team we won with last time."
Newton North's Gabe Montague redeemed himself after finishing third in the Div. 1 EMass race a week before. Montague ran with King Philips' Owen Gonser for much of the way before pulling away and crossing the finish line in 14:26.89. Gonser took second in 14:36.54 and Lincoln-Sudbury's Joshua Kerber was third with a 14:42.28.
Montague wasn't overly confident of pulling off the win. "I did not have high expectations," he said. "I didn't have the best race at divisionals (third) and thought I was going downhill. No one was really epecting me to do well. Last week was close to my worst performance. I came out here earlier in the week and ran the course. I got a sense of things. I tried to stay with Gonser for as long as I could. "Montague put in a move at 2 miles, but didn't expect to drop Gonser in the process. "I was expecting to get passed right after I made that move," Montague said.
"Then I put myself in Gonser's shoes and I thought that he must think I had a lot left and that would be demoralizing."