When Andrew Mah competed at last year's MIAA All-State Final, he finished a respectable 28th overall in the Div. 1 race as a tenth-grader.
It should be slightly different for the upcoming Nov. 19 meet.
Mah, a junior from Newton North, clocked the fastest time of the day and a big-time PR at the MSTCA Coaches Invitational on Saturday. He navigated the five-kilometer terrain at the Wrentham Developmental Center in a time of 15 minutes, 44.7 seconds to capture the Division I junior-senior (varsity) race.
The Newton North runner, a second-place finisher at the Bay State Invitational on Oct. 22, went into cruise control right from the gun. He finished more than 250 meters ahead of runner-up Kyle Cloutier of Nashoba Regional, who was timed in 16:25.4. North Andover teammates Patrick Kitchen (16:31.7) and Dan Kenney (16:32) were third and fourth, respectively.
"I took it out hard and no one else never really came with me," he said. "That was basically what I was planning to do; go all-out from the start."
The more than five-hour meet included Div. 1 and Div. 2 freshmen, sophomore and junior-senior (varsity) races. It was the last stop before next Saturday's divisional championships and the All State Finals the following weekend. While a good portion of the schools at the Coaches Invitational didn't compete at full strength to prepare for those meets, it still produced its share of quality performances.
The two freshmen boys' race featured a pair of impressive sub 10-minute 3K clockings for the respective winners. In the Div. 2 race, held during the morning session, Arlington Catholic's Sean Kay won by 23 seconds, breaking the tape in 9:54. Finishing second was Alex Fratantoni of Falmouth Academy in 10:17.70. Wakefield Memorial's Tanner Jellison was third at 10:34.
"That was kind of the plan," said the ninth-grader, who two weeks ago won the Cenral Catholic League Championship with a 5K time of 16:37. "I didn't want to get caught with all the other runners. I wanted to run the race by myself."
Mike Griffin was equally dominant in the Div. 1 race, blasting through the 3K course in 9:46.3. Sean Sullivan of Xaverian Brothers placed second (10:07.5) and Patrick Woomer of Plymouth North was third (10:10.5).
Griffin hit his mile split in 4:57.
"My coach wanted me to go for 9:50," he said. "I figured I'd show it up and get a little under, and I guess it worked. I am really proud of my effort. I didn't really expect to get first, at least by that much. It felt great."
In the girls' freshmen races, it was Boston Latin's Annie Jackson taking the Div. 1 race (11:41) and Foxboro's Abby Hasserman winning the Div. 2 event (11:27.5).
Abby Murphy of North Quincy copped the Div. 1 sophomore girls' race with a time of 19:49.6. Murphy was neck-and-neck with eventual third-place finisher Kaci Madden of Woburn (20:02.6) at the mile mark. She broke away shortly after and posted an eight-second win over runner-up Elizabeth Marshall of Plymouth North (19:57.5).
"Going down a hill I just sped up my pace," she said. "I just tried not to slow down from there."
Isabelle Doran of Hopedale also dipped under 20 minutes to take the Div. 2 race. She crossed the line in 19:44.3. Sophie Campbell of Tyngsborough was second at 20:12.7.
"My coach said stay consistent the first two miles and then give it your all the last mile," she said. "My first mile I did 6:23 and my second mile I did 6:21 so I tried to stay consistent as possible and give it all I got that last mile."
Tewksbury sisters Emily and Rachel Sessa were 1-2 in the girls' Div. 2 junior-senior race. Emily, a senior, was timed in 18:42 for the victory. Rachel, a junior, was clocked in 18:53.2 for her runner-up placement.
It was Déjà vu for the Sessa sisters, who were 1-2 at the Merrimack Valley Conference Championships just a week earlier. It appears being siblings has its benefits.
"It's really good working out together, and it works too because we literally do everything together," Emily said. "We're sisters so we can't really get away from each other."
The most exciting race of the day occurred in the Div. 2 junior-senior boys' division where Parker Charter junior Nico Augosta held off Norton's Joseph Annand the final 100-meter stretch to win with a time of 16:29.10, just a tick ahead of Annand, a senior, who was timed in 16:30.50. Dennis-Yarmouth Regional's Cam Hayes was a distant third in 16:53.
Augosta did most of the pace-setting with Annand lurking behind until the final straightaway.
"I was kind of scared," admitted Augosta, a fifth-place finisher at last year's Div. 2 All-State Final. "I was looking back a lot, and every time I made a move he would match it. He ran a really great race today, the final straight we traded the lead back and forth. He really hung in there and it was just about the final kick at the end."
Jillian Callahan of Plymouth South, a sophomore, emerged victorious in the Div. 1 junior-senior race, an event that allows underclassmen to compete. She won comfortably with a time of 19:19. Placing second was Gabrielle Lawrence of Shepherd Hill in 19:45.90.
Callahan, a runner-up at the Patriots League Championship a week earlier, had a simple plan entering Saturday's race.
"Just stay with the lead pack and hold on as long as I could and if I felt good just try and pass them," she said.
Anshel Isiles of Woburn was victorious in the Div. 1 sophomore race. He finished with a time of 16:50.60. Lowell's Jadiel Pinales was second in 16:56.8.
Isiles took the patient approach and didn't take the lead until there was less than a mile left.
"I started to take the lead because those guys were a little slow for my liking," he said. "I decided to give it all I got, lay it out there as they say."