MEET RESULTS
On a cloudy, 47 degree day at Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield, MA, a deep cross country field came together to determine the Cape Ann League cross country champion. The Masconomet boys were defending CAL Meet champions but in order to repeat, they would have to defeat the likes of MSTCA #4 Newburyport, #6 Amesbury, #8 Hamilton-Wenham and #15 Pentucket. From the sound of the gun, Newburyport's extremely talented 1-2 punch of senior Jack Carleo and sophomore Sam Acquaviva controlled the race. They worked together and led the race from start to finish. Carleo won the race in 15:40 and Acquaviva followed close behind to finish the 3.03 mile course in a time of 15:45.
Eastern Mass Division 5 and Division 6 favorites littered the rest of the boys top 10 as Nick Murphy (Pentucket) finished 3rd, Kyle Faddis (Masconomet) 4th, Patrick McCue (Amesbury) 5th, Patrick Guinee (Manchester-Essex) 6th, Daniel Allara (Hamilton-Wenham) 7th, Kellen Waters (Ipswich) 8th, Griffin Marshall (Hamilton-Wenham) 9th and Reed Dolan (Ipswich) finished 10th. These ten runners earned CAL All-League honors and will be most likely found amongst the Emass All-Stars on November 12th in Wrentham.
The boys team competition was a contest between Masconomet and Newburyport who were the top two Cape Ann League teams during the regular season. It was a battle of cross country opposites: the depth of Masco vs. the 1-2 punch of Newburyport. The race was tight from start to finish and the team winner was unable to be determined by the naked eye. But when the results were posted, the depth of the Masco boys proved to be enough. Despite only one runner in the top 10, the Masco boys used their pack (4, 13, 14, 17, 19) to finish with 67 points. Newburyport was a close 2nd with 79 points, Amesbury was 3rd (89 points) and Hamilton-Wenham (95 points) finished 4th.
The depth of the Cape Ann League was on full display and it will be no surprise to see these teams at or near the top of the EMass States leaderboard and then together once again at Gardner on November 19th,
On the girls side, the individual battle was fought between Eve Feuerbach of Manchester-Essex (last year's CAL Meet runner-up) and Hamilton-Wenham team leader Olivia Horgan. Projected EMass Division 6 champion proved too tough at the end of the day and defeated the field winning the meet in a time of 19:02. Horgan finished 2nd in 19:15 and was followed by Abigail Picciano (Newburyport) 3rd, Grace Sousa (Georgetown) 4th, Anna Cassidento (Hamiltom-Wenham) 5th, Molly Rains (Amesbury) 6th, Marissa Fargo (Triton) 7th, Siobhan O'Keefe (Pentucket) 8th, Maura McCormick (Manchester-Essex) 9th and Rebecca Erhard (Hamilton-Wenham) 10th. These ladies earn CAL All-League honors.
Just like the individual title battle, the team competition was also between Hamilton-Wenham and Manchester-Essex who finished 1st and 2nd in the league during the rest of the season, respectively. Through four runners Manchester-Essex had the edge but as is often the case in cross country, the 5th runner proved to be the difference. Hamilton-Wenham's 5th runner, Catherine Howley crossed the finish line in 19th to cement the victory for the Generals from Hamilton (2, 5, 10, 13, 19) with 49 points. Manchester-Essex was close behind finishing 2nd overall (1, 9, 14, 16, 24) with 64 points. Newburyport, Masconomet and Pentucket rounded out the top five in the team competition. The Hamilton-Wenham girls were victorious and once again proved that this is a program to reckon with not only during their regular season streak but during the championship meet season as well.
Just like the boys, watch out for many of the aforementioned teams and individuals as the State Meet season begins in Wrentham and then Gardner.