Will we see a new meet record at the Middlesex League XC Championships?
The chances are high that could happen at Monday's meet in Lexington.
We'll give you a hint on the runner we believe can break the 2.5-mile MR of 12:02, set in 2003 by former Belmont High standout Victor Gras. He's from the same school as noted alumni and Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, comedian Dane Cook and legendary marathoner and two-time Boston champion Johnny A. Kelley. Okay, so those might not have been very good hints, although if you're a running fanatic the last one should. How about this hint? He's the same runner that captured the 5K title at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships as a sophomore last June and should be locking horns with some of the top harriers in the country later this season.
That's right. It's Arlington High junior Ryan Oosting. If he runs at full strength on Monday, Oosting certainly has the potential to threaten the record held by Gras, who enjoyed an outstanding career at Belmont. The future Hall-of-Famer was a seven-time state champion, four-time All American and still holds the state-meet record for the mile of 4:05.14.
Here's why we believe there's potential for a new mark by Oosting in the 47th edition of the league championship. When Gras established his MR he averaged a crisp 4:49 per-mile pace. When Oosting won his national title he crossed the line in a PR of 14:36.13 for the 5K distance. That's 4:41 pace! Granted there are no hills or uneven terrain when you're running a track race, but we do have some wiggle room here with that eight-second differential in pace and there's also the fact that he will be running about a 1,000 meters shorter. He's also a pretty darn good runner!
The question is will Oosting focus his efforts on the record and, if so, will he be pushed enough in the early stages to give it a shot? The top competitors in the field other than the Arlington runner appear to be Wakefield's Matt Greatorex, who recently ran 15:44 at the Twilight Invitational and was second in his race at the Bay State Invitational where he was timed in 16:03. There's also Lexington's Eli Gappelberg, who was fourth in his race at Bay State where he finished in 16:02.51.
Oosting is the defending league champion and won the 2016 race in 12:19, six-seconds ahead of Thomas Lingard of Lexington, the current senior that we have not heard from yet this season. That was just the beginning of what would be a stellar sophomore campaign for Oosting.
Earlier this fall, Oosting ran 14:52 for 2.9 miles, a race he was a minute ahead of his closest pursuer. With November creeping up fast, he is now starting to gear his training into championship mode. If you're at the meet on Monday, you might want to keep your eyes on the clock. A record, and perhaps a sub 12-minute clocking, could happen.