WRENTHAM - Liz Holmes had her Andy Dufresne moment on Saturday in her own Wrentham Redemption.
Holmes redeemed herself and dismantled the Div. 2 Junior/Senior field in one felled swoop at the State Coaches Cross Country Invitational.
An asthma condition caused Holmes to collapse with a half mile to go and a 200-yard lead and was unable to finish at the Hockomock League meet on the same 3.1-mile Wrentham Developmental Center course just a week before. Holmes looked at the Coaches race as her chance to prove she shouldn't be written off in the final two weeks of the season. She figured a strong, controlled showing would give her a huge boost going into this coming weekend's EMass Cross Country Championships. The victory was an added bonus.
Holmes embraced the raw, wet conditions, cruising through the first mile in a conservative 5:50 with Rita Maurais of Hopedale and Austin Prep's Stephanie Casaletto in tow before surging and building a 40 yard gap by 2 miles. Unlike the Hockomock race, which was run in unseasonably warm conditions, Holmes only got stronger as the race went on and finished in 18 minutes, 39.74 seconds, the fastest time of the day. Maurais took second in 18:58.44 and Caseletto clocked 19:00.82 for third.
Holmes was all smiles after the race with the weight of the Hockomock dissapointment off her back.
"Last week I went out way too fast and really struggled," said Holmes. "My breathing was so much better today. I needed it as a little confidence boost to know I'm back in the game. I was a little tight at 2-1/2 (miles), but that was ok. I was coming down this (straightaway) and glanced over and saw them at the top of the hill. My time wasn't very good, but last week I really struggled. It was nice to win it. I expected it to be a lot more windy and it wasn't too bad."
C.J. Paine of Whitinsville Christian overtook teammate Jamison Koeman with just over 400 meters left and pressed hard to finish in 16:18.91. Koeman was second just four seconds back in 16:22.45 and Thomas Spillers of Hopedale took third in 16:30.11.
Koeman and Paine led a four-runner pack through a 5:05 first mile before Koeman surged and had a 20-yard advantage at 2 miles (10:45). Paine made one decisive move and that was the race. Paine is now looking ahead to the Central Mass Cross Country Championships where he wants to place in the top 3 in the Div. 2 race on the Gardner Golf Course.
"I stayed comfortable and concentrated on reeling him in," said Paine. "I made sure I went right by him then saved a little in case I needed a kick to hold him off. My arms are a little numb but it (conditions) wasn't too bad."
Hudson's Andrew Doherty-Munro bided his time in a 10-runner pack that kept a watchful eye on leader Mike Mullaney of North Quincy. The group was ten seconds behind Mullaney at the mile (5:10) and Dohert-Munro was the first to move, taking the lead at 2 miles and kicking home to a 16:11.58 victory, just edging out Reading's Matt Ryan (16:13.98). Benjamin Jacobson of Lexington was third in 16:18.3, followed by teammate Benjamin Martell in 16:29.09. Mullaney held on for fifth in 16:30.45.
"I like pack running," said Doherty-Munro. "I've never been great at solo running. It was ideal in this race. It was a good pack at the mile and it thinned out after that. My main goal coming into this was putting myself in a position to win. There was a decent pack at the mile. It was quick. It wasn't slow."
Conditions worsened drastically by the time the Div. 1 Junior/Senior race got underway, but the driving rain and cold didn't deter Woburn's Gina Daddario from a convincing 19:03.3 win. Chantal Kellerd of Andover was second in 19:24.2 and Lexington's Paige Lawler clinched third in 19:28.9.
Daddario went out very conservatively, passing the mile in the 10th place in 6:00, before moving up to join the leaders.
"I think knowing that it was going to be really hard made me run stronger," said Daddario. "I didn't really care about my time. I wanted to start off slow to see how I was going to do. I didn't feel that tired (when I took the lead) so I said just go for it. I think I run better in the rain. The cold was hard because I have asthma and it was a little bit of a struggle breathing."
Brockton's Christopher McCaffrey edged out David of Seybert of Attleboro to take the Div. 1 Sophomore race in 16:46.07 with Seybert just three seconds back with his 16:49.21. North Quincy's Jimmy Cannon beat out Gal Fudim of Newton South (17:07.62) and Joshua Rahn of St. John's (17:08.65) for third place in 17:05.53.
The Div. 2 Sophomore race was even quicker with Melrose's Kevin Wheelock ripping an impressive 16:24.20 to defeat Hopedale's Brandon Hall, who finished in 16:29.32. Wheelock's teammate, Adam Cook, was third in 16:54.09. Norton's Joseph Annand took fourth in 17:01.46 and Connor Paine of Whitinsville Christian nailed down fifth place in 17:06.10.
Both sophomore girls' races were runaways. Lexington's Alexandra Wolf won by 16 in the Div. 1 event in 19:10.73 and Gianna Mastromatteo owned the Div. 2 race, her 19:12.18 a whopping 1:11 in front of Veronica Seguin of Arlington Catholic.
Norwell's Steven O'Driscoll had the fastest time of the day on the freshman 3K course, winning the Div. 2 race in a quick 9:58.84. Parker's Nico Agosta was four seconds back in 10:02.99 and Andrew Corbett, also of Norwell, captured the bronze medal in 10:04.14. Blackstone-Millville's Cole Bolduc finished fourth in 10:33.66 and Christopher McCauliff of Lunenburg rounded out the top 5 in 10:35.05.
The Div. 1 race featured a duel between St. John's Prep's Tristan Shelgren and Andrew Mah of Newton North. Shelgren sprinted ahead over the final 200 meters on the wet, spongy grass to win in 10:11.35. Mah finished strong in 10:15.92 in front of teammate Jacob Jampel (10:20.48), David Nagle of BC High (10:22.10) and North Andover's Will Ferguson (10:23.05).
Phoebe Von Conta led a 1-2 sweep by Parker in the Div. 2 event, finishing 11 seconds in front of teammate Emma McHutcheon (11:31.51) in 11:20.44. Katie Bradley of Norton was third in 11:37.63, followed by Shannon Kelley of Archbishop Williams in 11:50.53 and fifth-place finisher Ashley Sampson of Foxboro, who crossed the finish line in 12:03.58.
Newton North had two harriers in the top 5 of the Div. 1 race with Einat Gavish taking second in 11:37.95 and Natalie Solari nailing down fifth place with her 12:19.23. Julia Curtin of Beverly was first across the line in 11:30.10. Sophie Chonge of Lexington was third in 11:52.27 and North Quincy's Devin Hiltunen placed fourth in 12:05.07.