MIAA Boys All State Finals
Nick Carleo made it clear in the week leading up to Saturday's All-State meet that he was perfectly willing to back off the pace if he was feeling less than 100% or sluggish on Franklin Park's 3.1-mile course. With the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals fast approaching, the Newburyport talent wants to hold a peak and grab one of the 10 slots that guarantee a trip to the nationals at Balboa Park in San Diego come the second Saturday in September.
It looked to be all systems go for Carleo as he roared out well clear of the pack through a 4:41 opening mile. From that point on, however, he decided to cruise, passing 2 miles in 10:01 and crossing the finish line in 15 minutes, 51 seconds to easily defend his title from a year ago. Marblehead's Andrew Ernst was just six seconds back in second (15:57), but wasn't able to get close enough to Carleo to challenge him on the final straightaway. Adam Petti of West Bridgewater was ecstatic with his third-place finish in 16:03.
Carleo was confident he could have run in the 15:20 range if he was feeling up to it, but a recent head cold told him it would be smart to ease up as much as possible.
"I planned to go out hard and go as fast as I could," said Carleo. "I feel a little sick. My nose and throat don't feel good at all. I went out a little too fast for being sick. I'm at the point where I can run 4:40 like it's nothing. I felt a little sluggish in the Wilderness. I peeked behind me to see if anyone was throwing in a surge or something. I couldn't kick too hard because of my throat. I felt relaxed the whole way. I'm not physically tired at all. It's kind of a bummer I was sick though."
Hopedale and Newburyport finished in a tie up front with 125 point, forcing the teams to go to the finish of their No. 6 runner for the tiebreaker. Hopedale was awarded first place thanks to a 71st-place finish by Joe Grider in17:21.
There were no surprises in the lead pack of the Div. 1 race as all the favoriteds were bunched together through a somewhat conservative 4:52 opening mile. The pack began to break up shortly after with Xaverian's Lucas Taxter pushing the pace and Chelmsford's Quinn Cooney and PJ Garmon of Billerica in tow. The threesome was still within strides of each other as they passed 2 miles in 10:02.
Cooney, who outdueled Garmon to capture the Div. 2 EMass race a week before, began to put daylight between himself and Garmon as Taxter fell back. Cooney put his 1:55 800-meter speed to good use on the Overlook loop and sprinted home with an enormously satisfying 15:44 win. Garmon was just three seconds back in second in 15:47, followed by Taxter in third (15:52).
Cooney was content to let bull strong Taxter set the pace for the first half of the race and then make a series of moves to get away from both Taxter and Garmon.
"I let Taxter do a lot of the work," said Cooney, sporting a mohawk for the big event. "I sat behind him for the first mile and a half. At the top of Bear Cage (Hill) I tried to go, but Taxter and Garmon came with me. When I got in the Wilderness I got on his shoulder and started to push the pace a little bit. I made a hard move and was able to hold on to the end."
Cooney believed his best plan of attack was to move hard in the final mile and switch gears a second time with 800 left to run. He was very concerned about Garmon's 800 speed.
"I wanted to wait until the last mile to take off," said Cooney." I knew I had the endurance for it. I hoped to be a little faster at the mile mark. He has a great kick and I had to make sure I had enough room on the last straightaway to hold him off. I was thinking of all the running I did, running on the trails and all the miles I put in. That definitely helped me get through the last 100 meters. I went deep into the well today. I knew I had the strength to run a hard last 800 meters and that gave me a lot of confidence today going into that last half mile.
"I don't actually think it's hit me yet. I'm sure it will later tonight or tomorrow."
Lowell and Cambridge hooked up for battle in the team competition and it was Phil Maia's squad that pulled out the victory with 98 points to Cambridge's 107. Larry Carney's sterling fourth-place finish in 16:01 that led Lowell to a successful defense of its title as its top five runners finished within 30 seconds of each other.