MIAA Boys All State Championships
With an 800-meter best of less than two minutes, Joe Grider considers himself more a track than cross-country runner.
“I run on my toes,” said the Hopedale High senior. “Running 3.1 miles all out, all that impact goes to my knees. It’s tough for me.”
At Saturday’s MIAA All State Finals, Grider wasn’t on his comfort zone of the track oval, competing instead on the up-and-down terrain of Franklin Park. But on this day, his coaches and teammates were sure glad he was there.
Placing 71st overall with a season best of 17 minutes, 21 seconds, Grider was the sixth man for the Blue Raiders. More importantly, he proved to be the deciding factor by breaking up a 125-all tie with Newburyport for the Division 2 state crown. Marblehead was third with 132 points.
“We knew coming into this race we were either going to win by a little or lose by a little,” Grider said. “I never knew it would happen like this. It’s a big accomplishment. I went from a 42-minute 5K in seventh grade to helping pull out a state title win. It’s just amazing.”
As expected, Newburyport senior Nick Carleo defended his crown. With a 4:41 opening mile, he built a sizable gap over the chase pack and never was seriously challenged to the finish. He crossed the line in 15:51, six seconds ahead of Marblehead junior Andrew Ernst.
Carleo admitted he didn’t exactly feel his best prior to the start.
“The plan was to go out hard and get a fast time and just chill from there. I started to feel really sick. I don’t feel good at all,” he said. “I went out a little too fast (for the first mile) for being sick. I know I can run off of that pace, if not faster. It will come to me. I felt pretty good. I’m starting to get to the point where I can run 4:40 like it’s nothing. I don’t know. I just felt a little sluggish.”
Junior Joseph Molvar was next for Newburyport, taking 14th overall in 16:31. From there, it turned into a nail-biter between the two rivals. Grider secured the decision by finishing just three seconds behind the Blue Raiders’ No. 5 man, senior Yarsolav Borodenko (67th, 17:18).
“He came through big today,” said Hopedale assistant coach Mark Johnson.
For Newburyport, which also had a strong placement from sophomore Jack Carleo (25th, 16:47), it was the second straight runner-up finish that was decided by a sixth man. In the Div. 5 race of last week’s Eastern Massachusetts Championship, Hamilton-Wenham went home with the plaque after both teams scored 72 points. Hopedale followed up last week’s win at the Central Mass. Championship, an impressive showing where the top five finished among the first 23 runners.
It was once again a team effort by the Red Raiders on Saturday. Comprising the remainder of the scoring was senior Ryan Wollensak (16th, 16:36), junior Tom Spillers (20th, 16:43), freshman Brandon Hall (23rd, 16:45) and sophomore David Wollensak (56th, 17:11).
“From the start of the season, we have been preaching to the kids the importance of depth,” Johnson said. Head coach Joe Drugan, who works security for the New England Patriots, was in Indianapolis with the team and unable to attend the state meet. “We didn’t really have a standup, front-runner like Lenox, like Newburyport. We had a group, a cohesive unit. We preached to them the importance of having a sixth and seventh runner. We did not except it to be like this (today). I have been worried the last week just thinking about it.”
“We had an idea (we could win) but nothing is a guarantee,” he added. “The guys knew they had to come here with their ‘A’ game because of the powerhouses of Newburyport with Carleo and having the other teams that have these guys running 15, 16 minutes. Today we came and the boys had a helluva day.”
In the Div. 1 race, held at the start of the three-hour meet, the Red Raiders of Lowell defeated second-place Cambridge Rindge Latin, 98-107. Lowell has finished no worse than second place the last five years, winning its last state title in 2012. Quinn Cooney of Chelmsford earned individual honors with his winning time of 15:44. Billerica Memorial senior PJ Garmon was second at 15:47 and Xaverian Brothers senior Lucas Taxter also dipped under 16 minutes with a 15:52 clocking.
The Red Raiders were led by senior Larry Carney, a fourth-place finisher at 16:01. Lowell’s Anthony Rodriguez, a sophomore, was 19th in 16:17. Carney and Rodriguez are the only two returnees from last year’s squad that took second to Mansfield.
“At the beginning of the season we weren’t sure we could do it because we unloaded some guys, a couple of 4:20 milers and guys that are doing well in college right now,” said longtime Lowell coach Phil Maia. “We were just hoping to get some experience. We started to get some early-season results and were running together and the young kids were keeping up with the older kids on the team and then we started thinking, ‘Is it possible?” We started thinking someone’s got to win it, why not us? We sort of just went on from there.”
After Carney and Rodriguez, Lowell solidified its crown with its next three runners separated by just one tick. That trio consisted of junior Sean Bryan (32nd, 16:30), junior Tommy Abraham (34th, 16:31) and sophomore Chris Polanco (35th, 16:31).
“It feels so good. It’s a euphoric feeling, just to win the all-state championship,” Maia said. “Everybody works hard and when it comes you’re way, you just enjoy it. You got to be lucky, too. We were lucky to not have injuries. Some times in the past we had some great teams and then a kid gets injured that week or comes down with the flu. That’s happened over the years. This is my 32nd year…It feels great. It’s a great, great feeling. The kids in the program will remember this for the rest of their lives.”
Cooney, who was the Div. 2 titlists at last week’s Eastern Mass. meet and was also victorious in the championship race of the Ocean State Invitational in last September, hung with Garmon and Taxter for the first two thirds of the race. He assumed control of the lead during the final mile.
“After the wilderness I made a hard move and I was able to hold on to the end,” he said. “I wanted to wait towards the last mile to take off.”
Coming down the final stretch to the finish, Cooney was concerned about Garmon, a runner with 1:52 speed for 800m.
“Absolutely,” he said. “He’s got a strong kick. I had to make sure I had enough room the last straightaway to hold him off. I was hurting. But I was just thinking about all the running I have been doing, running on the trails, doing my summer miles. That definitely help me get through the last 100 meters.”