For the past fall seasons, twin sisters Sarah and Kaitlyn Roffman's sport of choice has been soccer.
Not anymore.
The Littleton High juniors have decided to trade in their soccer cleats for some cross-country spikes.
And judging by their previous experience on the track and the way the dynamic duo performed at Saturday's Frank Kelley Invitational, it appears as though they'll be some extra company up front at the Division 2 All State Finals in mid November.
The Roffmans made their inaugural appearance at Frank Kelley an impressive one, dipping under 19 minutes on the moderately-challenging five-kilometer layout at the Wrentham Developmental Center to claim the top two spots in the Championship race. Sarah outdistanced her sister by seven seconds with a winning time of 18:46.62. Kaitlyn crossed the line in 18:53.70. Finishing third was Westwood's Ashley Walker with a time of 19:12.35. Woburn claimed the team title, defeating runner-up Westwood, 97-96.
"We had no expectations coming into it," said Kaitlyn Roffman. "We just tried to see what we can do. It worked out well. I don't think we expected this."
Coming off an impressive win at the Ocean State Invitational seven days ago, St. John Prep's Tristan Shelgren continued to prove his clout in the state this season, winning the boys' Championship race with a time of 15:24.53. Shelgren was neck-and-neck with eventual second-place finisher Andrew Mah of Newton North for two miles until hammering the final mile at sub five-minute pace to post a strong 22-second victory over Mah. Wakefield copped the team prize with a 120-142 win over second-place Pentucket.
"He can take anyone through a great pace," Shelgren said. "I just stuck with him and I just happened to do better than him at this time. But it could go either way. Maybe later he'll just be the one to drop me."
MileSplit MA will have more on the Frank Kelley Invitational coming soon, including video footage of ALL 14 races and tons of photos!!!
Boys Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Tristan Shelgren (St. John's Prep) 15:24.53; Sean Kay (Arlington Catholic High School) 16:17.56; Andrew Mah (Newton North High School) 15:46.39; Trevor Mungeam (Douglas High School) 16:23.91; Nick Mcnamee (Plymouth North High School) 16:00.76; Jake Luongo (Stoneham High School) 16:27.90; Ian Horsbugh (Newton North High School) 16:03.70; Ethan Mathews (Ayer-Shirley High School) 16:05.71; Claudio Rocha (Peabody) 16:10.23; Jason Dolan (Westford Academy) 16:12.05; Zach Conant (Westwood High School) 16:14.64; Anshel Isles (Woburn High School) 16:15.28; Benjamin Gordon Sniffen (Northampton High School) 16:23.59; Bryan Ryder (Plymouth North High School) 16:26.20; Matt Greatorex (Wakefield Memorial High School) 16:28.87;
Girls Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Sarah Roffman (Littleton High School) 18:46.62; Mari Avola (Stoneham High School) 18:47.13; Stephanie Casaletto (Austin Prep School) 18:52.38; Kaitlyn Roffman (Littleton High School) 18:53.70; Ashley Walker (Westwood High School) 19:12.35; Jillian Callahan (Plymouth South High School) 19:17.81; Alexina Hurley (Woburn High School) 19:19.84; Abigail Tenreiro (Seekonk High School) 19:27.79; Katie Cass (Duxbury High School) 19:24.93; Sophie Campbell (Tyngsborough High School) 19:34.33; Lauren Grela(Ursuline Academy) 19:36.12; Siobhan O'keefe (Pentucket Regional Senior High School) 19:38.46; Sarah Conant (Westwood High School) 19:43.02;