Marcelo Rocha learned a lot from his upset loss to Wellesley's Thomas D'Anieri at last year's MIAA All State Final.
But with the bull's eye squarely on his singlet for the second straight year, the Peabody senior made sure he finished his final cross-country season in the Bay State with a well-deserved victory.
Competing on the challenging five-kilometer layout of the Gardner Municipal Golf Course, Rocha simply dominated the field in the Division I race Saturday afternoon, breaking the tape with a winning time of 15 minutes, 38 seconds. The Providence College-bound runner broke from the field as he made the steep incline after the first mile. Finishing second was St. John's Prep junior Tristan Shelgren at 15:59. He edged Lucas Aramburu, a sophomore from Brookline, who also was timed in 15:59.
A relieved and happy Rocha had this year's All-State meet on his mind ever since his loss to D'Anieri in 2015.
"Pretty much after last cross-country season, the goal of our training was to try and do better at the All-States," he said. "This year I just had to mimic what Thomas did and run (my) heart out."
Rocha took the patient approach, allowing Newton North's Andrew Mah (tenth, 16:24) to do the early pace-setting. Mah, a winner at the Coaches Invitational two weeks ago and third to Rocha at the Div. 1 Championship last Saturday, led the pack through an opening mile around five minutes.
"My plan was just to stick with him because he's awesome," stated Rocha. "Last week he just ran an amazing race also."
After breaking from the pack, the Peabody standout gradually built on his cushion the next two miles and was comfortably ahead of the field as he made the final long, uphill stretch to the finish line.
"Sophomore year I had a lot of up and down races, same thing my freshman year," Rocha said. "It just feels great to win this meet; something I missed last year. It just feels great now."
In a tight race for the team title, Wellesley was able to squeak out a single-digit victory over two-time defending state titlist Lowell with a 76-82 win. The Raiders were able to bunch their five scoring runners in the top 21 positions to secure the winning trophy. Senior Benjamin Matejka was the No. 1 finisher for Wellesley, taking ninth overall in 16:23. Junior teammate Thomas Weiss was next across the line, placing 13th overall at 16:32.
Second-year coach Tim Broe, a former professional runner and U.S. Olympian, couldn't have asked for more from his squad on a perfect day for running with sunny skies and an unseasonable warm 55 degrees on the thermometer.
"I just never expected, being my second season at a school and to try and fall into it by dumb luck and to have this group of kids willing to work this hard," said Broe, whose squad was fifth in 2015. "This is just icing on the cake for us. We just talked about all the important stuff, being a good teammate and being the best that you can be. These moments, you just cherish them because you don't get many of them."
Broe admits it wasn't easy watching the race, especially with a talented team like Lowell in the field. Besides winning the last two state crowns, the Raiders also won it all in 2012 and were a runner-up three other times in the last six years prior to Saturday's meet.
"I was saying before the race that I almost passed out just from nervousness," said the University of Alabama graduate. "I have been to two Olympic Trials. I have coached guys at the Olympic Trials. I know how much this means to these young men. It's exhausting. I am happy it's over."
Newburyport senior Jack Carleo earned a gutsy victory in the Div. 2 race, holding off Parker Charter junior Nico Agosta and Melrose senior Adam Cook the final mile to win with a time of 16:20. Agosta secured runner-up honors at 16:25 and Cook finished at 16:29 for third.
Carleo continued the winning tradition set by his older brother Nick Carleo, the current PC runner who won back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014.
"It feels good to keep it in the family," he said. "We have a little brother coming soon that is showing a lot of potential. Maybe he'll get one too."
Carleo estimates he was in about 30th place after the first mile. He was able to take over the lead just a mile later on the challenging 5K layout.
"I went out really slow because at Bay State I just had a terrible race. I was sick and everything," said Carleo, making reference to the Bay State Invitational on Oct. 14, a meet he finished 14th with a time of 17:17. "I learned I had to take it out slow today. At two miles, the pack definitely became a little smaller. By the two mile (mark), I started pulling away."
Led by junior Brandon Hall's 11th place finish (16:55), Hopedale won its fourth state title in the school's history by beating second-place Wakefield, 89-108. It was the third time this season that the Blue Raiders were able to defeat their talented rival.
"My guys did a great job," Hopedale coach Joe Drugan said. "My number four, five guy (Christian DeBoer) went down. He fell down three times and got back up. These guys, starting with him, he's a great competitor. They all are. Brandon Hall, fantastic competitor. David Wollensak, (15th, 16:57), I can't say enough about David. His brother ran for me in the (2014) state championship. David came up and did his job. Jake Murray (31st, 17:20), another one, came up and did his job. Bryce Brown (32nd, 17:21), Andrew Doran (33rd, 17:22), Collin Black (81st, 18:10) and, of course, Christian (99th, 18:23)."