Pictured here is recently graduated Concord Carlisle High School runner Alex Ehrenthal. Ehrenthal was one of Concord Carlisle High School's top Cross Country runners. He lead the pack of Concord Carlisle runners at the MIAA All States Final meet where he finished 5th place overall in Division 1 race, one second ahead of his teammate, Matthew Kleiman. Photo by Maddie Jones.
1. Mount Greylock Regional High School
Mount Greylock Regional High School's 2018 season ended on a high note finishing first at the MIAA Western Division Championships in the division 2 race and then followed that up with a third place finish in the division 2 race at the MIAA All States Final meet. Mount Greylock was lead by the trio of Seniors of Jesse Seid, Josh Cheung, and Jacob Fink who placed 11th, 19th, and 41st respectively at the MIAA All States Final meet to lead them to a 3rd place finish. Mount Greylock also graduated their 5th and 6th runners of Theo Sandstrom and Jakin Miller.
The positive for Mount Greylock is that their 4th runner at the MIAA All States Final meet, Oliver Swabey, is a rising 8th grader with a bright high school career ahead of him. Swabey has impressed with a personal best Cross Country personal record of 17:21.00. Mount Greylock is also returning Charlie McWeeny - a rising Junior with a personal best Cross Country 5k of 18:33.00. Mount Greylock Regional High School is going to need to build off of these runners to return to All States meets in the near future.
2. Arlington High School
The big loss for Arlington High School is Ryan Oosting, who dominated the Massachusetts Cross Country season last year. Oosting won the Division 1 MIAA All States Final Meet and then went on to finish 12th at the Nike Cross Nationals. Arlington took a big hit besides Oosting, however, losing five of their top 7. Jeffrey Candell was their next biggest senior loss. Candell ran a personal best 5k of 15:58.20 and finished 38th at the Division 1 All States Finals Meet right behind his rising senior teammate, Miles Harrison. Also losing their forth, fifth, and sixth runners in Neil Tracey, Aidan Lavalley, and Aidan Lavalley. With this large loss of talent, Arlington High School Cross Country hands its torch off to the aforementioned Miles Harrison along with Michael Pescatore - a rising senior with a 5k personal record of 17:23.40.
Lead by Lucas Aramburu, winner of the Division 1 race at the MIAA Eastern Division Championships, Brookline High School finished 8th in the division 1 race at the MIAA All States Final. Unfortunately, Brookline High School also lost five of its top seven runners. Aramburu loss impacts Brookline the most, with his second place finish - behind Oosting - at the MIAA All States Final Meet and 18th place finish at the Nike Cross Nationals. Brookline also lost a 16:07.91 runner in William Mccormick - their number two runner. Brookline's other three top 7 graduates were Jon Diaz, Peter Rachlin, and Ben Haber.
Brookline does have two impressive incoming Junior runners, Adrian Seeger and Spenser Bailey to help them bounce back from their losses. Seeger ran a personal best of 17:04.64 during the 2018 season on top of his 9:55.83 Two Mile performance during the 2019 Outdoor Track & Field season. Bailey had an equally as impressive Sophomore season with a 5k personal record of 16:29.87 alongside his 4:40.43 One Mile personal best. These two rising Juniors are more than ready to take over the Brookline High School squad and continue their success.
4. West Springfield High School
West Springfield High School has lost four of its top seven over this off season, including their top three runners. West Springfield ended their 2018 Cross Country season off with a forth place finish at the MIAA Western Division Championships Meet in Westfield, MA while sending their top two runners, Gabriel Medina and Jack Merck, to the MIAA All States Final Meet where they would finish 3rd and 89th respectively in the Division 1 race. A 15:43.62 5k runner, Medina is a huge loss for West Springfield High School. Medina ended off his high school Cross Country career with a 50th place finish in the Championship boys race at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional meet.
Other than Medina and Merck, West Springfield High School lost seniors Andrew Lamas and Manuel Miranda. This leaves West Springfield with rising seniors, Steven Aubin and John Nekitopoulos, to lead the charge. Both runners are in the mid 17:00 5k range and will have to lead their younger runners with them in order to make up for the talent they lost this year.
5. Concord Carlisle High School
Last on our list is our reigning division 1 MIAA All States Final Champions, Concord Carlisle High School. While Concord Carlisle is only losing three of their top seven runners, they are losing their top two runners. Matthew Kleiman and Alex Ehrenthal lead Concord Carlisle all season and lead them their state championship finishing 5th (Ehrenthal) and 6th (Kleiman) at the MIAA All States Final meet. Kleiman ran a personal record Cross Country 5k of 15:51.70 while Ehrenthal's personal best was a slightly slower 15:53.50. Losing not one, but two sub 16:00 5k runners is a huge hit for Concord Carlisle High School, but they are also losing Christopher Ratcliffe - little brother to current Stanford University runner, Thomas Ratcliffe. Christopher Ratcliffe's personal best Cross Country 5k is a 16:26.90 - another elite performer that hurts Concord Carlisle High School to lose.
Luckily for Concord Carlisle High School, they have a dominate rising senior in William Chaffin to lead the charge. Another sub 16:00 5k runner, Chaffin has already clocked a personal record 5k of 15:53.90. Not far behind Chaffin is the 16:47.40 5k runner in rising senior, William Crounse. Behind both Williams is the rising Junior, Joshua Pixley - a 16:48.00 5k runner. With this talent leading Concord Carlisle High School this fall, they are still a huge threat for all of Massachusetts even though they lost three very talented athletes.
Do you believe your high school has lost more senior talent than the teams on our list? Send us a tweet @MileSplitMass and share your thoughts and opinions.
Pictured here is recently graduated Concord Carlisle High School runner Alex Ehrenthal. Ehrenthal was one of Concord Carlisle High School's top Cross Country runners. He lead the pack of Concord Carlisle runners at the MIAA All States Final meet where he finished 5th place overall in Division 1 race, one second ahead of his teammate, Matthew Kleiman. Photo by Maddie Jones.