Peabody’s Nick Christansen crossed the finish line after turning aside the Div. 1 EMass field and hardly broke stride as he raced through the chute and out the back. The Tanner standout had good reason to be excited. His time of 15 minutes, 46 seconds was a personal best on the 3.1-mile Franklin Park course and Christansen accomplished what he had set as a goal during the summer months.
Christansen ran with the pack early on before making a move that put him into the lead to stay. Acton-Boxboro’s James Sullivan was a strong second in 15:56 and Nathaniel Adams of Lexington clinched third with his 16:02.
Christansen’s one hard move was all he needed.
“It was a windy day and I knew if I sat back and stayed in the pack I’d have a better chance at breaking away later in the race,” he said. “Coming down Bear Cage Hill I made a surge to separate myself from the pack. I felt unbelievable.
“This (win) was my total mindset all week, all month and during the summer. Next week will be even more satisfying if I pull that off.”
Christansen barreled through the 2 mile mark in a swift 10:06 and entered the Wilderness in complete command.
“He (head coach Joe Rocha) was telling me attack, attack, you’re ready.
“It was unbelievable. There were fans everywhere. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
Christansen’s teammates will join him at next Saturday’s Div. 1 state meet after placing fourth in the team standings. Brookline took a giant step in repeating as state champion by capturing the team title with 75 points. Lowell was right behind with 83 and Acton-Boxboro took third with 119.
The Warriors placed their first five harriers in the top 20 in the span of 24 seconds. Mark Perry led Brookline with his 10th-place finish in 16:31.
Marshfield’s deadly 1-2 tandem of Kevin Thomas and Joel Hubbard took command of the Div. 2 race from the start and cruised to identical times of 16:21 with Thomas crossing first for the win.
Both Rams passed the mile in 4:50 with a clear lead.
“Joel already has a state title so he was nice enough to give me one,” said Thomas with smile.
Hubbard was pleased with the way the race played out and what lies ahead for the Marshfield squad. The Rams were fourth with 109 points. Lincoln-Sudbury captured the team title with 64 points ahead of Mansfield (86) Chelmsford (94).
“We just kind of wanted to get away from everyone, establish a good lead and relax after that,” said Hubbard. “We didn’t want to take it too hard, especially with the big meet next weekend then Foot Locker.
“I think it’s going to work out for us. Everyone had to race hard and we were able to take it easy. There are so many kids who could win next weekend.”
Marshfield head coach Dennis Sheppard viewed the race as a stepping stone to the championship meet.
“Today, coming in knowing Josh Lampron of Mansfield wasn’t running they weren’t going to have to give a 100-percent effort,” said Sheppard. “They wanted to run a controlled, hard race. We’ll let it all hang loose next week.”
Hockomock League champion Chris Allen bolted through the first mile of the Div. 3 race in 4:45 with league rival Drew Beck of Oliver Ames in tow. Allen continued to press the pace to finish with a swift 15:57 victory. Whitman-Hanson’s Pat Ryan was second in 16:19 and Zach Ganshirt of Walpole took third in 16:22. Beck’s quick start caught up with him, but he still held on for a very respectable fourth in 16:26.
Allen admitted after that his first mile was faster than he wanted. “I wanted to take it out hard,’’ He said. “Last week I went out at 4:48 in my league meet. Today I felt much stronger. I’m looking forward to running better at the end of the race. My finishes haven’t been good. Maybe if I stayed back at the beginning I would have been a little more consistent. I’m still happy with the way I ran.
Beck intends to run a more conservative opening mile this Saturday. “I went out faster than I wanted to,” he said. “I didn’t realize we were going that fast. I didn’t fade in the second mile, I was doing really well. In the Wilderness I was trying to stay tough because I knew I was fading.”
Beck led the Tigers to the team title. “It was a great day,” said head coach Neil Levine. “Our kids executed well with the pack running. We couldn’t have asked for anything more. We went out there and ran our race.
“I think they have better races in them. They think they have better races in them. We’re going to attack some of the teams that are ranked in front of us. We want to keep rolling through the end of the season.”
Defending Div. 2 state champion Wesley Gallagher of Pembroke led Wakefield’s Stephen Robertson and Mike McConville of Hingham through a 4:50 opening mile and 2 miles in 10:00 before surging ahead over final 300 yards for the 15:50 win in the Div. 4 event. Robertson was a strong second in 15:54, a step ahead of McConville who finished with the same time.
Pembroke (49 points) edged out a tough Bishop Feehan squad (54) and Sandwich (98).
“I wanted to stay controlled for the first two miles,” said Gallagher. “I felt good. Everyone stepped up this race. We have a pretty good chance to win (next week).”
Weston’s Matt Herzig went through the mile in a conservative 5:10 and moved hard on Bear Cage Hill to capture the Div. 5 race in 16:41. Newburyport took the team title with 70 points.
Herzig changed his strategy on the fly and the move paid off. “I originally planned to make a move in the Wilderness, but I felt good going down Bear Cage so I went earlier,” said Herzig. “We’ve been doing a lot of lifting and I was focusing on moving my arms.”
East Bridgewater’s Tanner Picklus let Norwell’s Owen Wiggins of Norwell lead through the first mile before taking the lead and going on to capture the Div. 6 title in 16:57. Wiggins took second in 17:21 to lead Chuck Martin’s Clippers to second (135 points) behind Ipswich (119).
Picklus wasn’t surprised to see Wiggins out in front at the start. “He (Wiggins) usually goes out pretty fast,” said Picklus. “I kept pushing the pace and I knew if I continued it the race would come out in my favor.”