|
By Joe Reardon
It wasn’t a surprise that the field allowed Framingham’s Ben Groleau to take the early lead in yesterday’s B.A.A. Scholastic Mile. It was a big surprise to Groleau that the deep, 16-runner lineup never challenged him. The 2010 winner and four-time starter, Groleau went to the front immediately and increased his lead over Newton North’s Justin Keefe from five yards after one lap to 80 yards at the finish with a thoroughly dominating win in 4 minutes, 27.2 seconds. Keefe was second in 4:39.7 and Hopkinton’s Tim Bolick took third with his 4:40.4. Groleau was more than a tad bit surprised by the kick he had on the third lap to separate himself from Keefe once and for all. “That was rough,” said Groleau. “Coming in I knew it was going to be a hard field and I’d have to take it out early but, man, I didn’t know I had it in me. I’m excited. I guess experience just paid off a lot. You can’t get caught behind anyone right of the bat.”
With no one near him, Groleau had little trouble navigating the tight turns. He sprinted hard down the final stretch in front of a cheering crowd. Groleau’s margin of victory was the biggest of the day. “I jumped out and held the pace,” he said. “I thought taking the pace was a good idea. The last lap you’re not even there - you’re just running. I kept on moving. I did not think there was going to be that much of a gap. I thought it was going to be pretty tight. This is a good field. Coming in I thought there’d be a good group of us.” Groleau was especially pleased with his quick time so early in the spring season. He’ll be looking to lower his personal best in the mile from 4:21 to somewhere under 4:15.
Keefe was taken less off guard of Groleau’s aggressive start than his fast finish. “I knew he’d take it out,” said Keefe. “It’s usually not his style but he has the most experience. I haven’t done the speed work to go out that hard yet. He took me a little off guard. I’m working on my base and strength. I like where I am right now. I want to work my time down.” Groleau put Keefe into hard racing mode in hurry with his quick start at the gun. “I hadn’t even seen the course prior to the race so I had no idea what I was getting into,” said Keefe. “When he took it hard like that it was not what I was hoping for. I was hoping for a slower race and on the last lap work it out.”
The times behind Groleau, Keefe and Bolick were solid for so early in the season. Boston’s Michael Ward was fourth in 4:40.6 a step ahead of the 4:40.7 turned in by Mike Perry of Brookline. Wellesley captured the next two positions with Bijan Mazaheri in sixth (4:44) and James Eisenstein taking seventh in 4:46.2. Brookline’s Evan Sternstein was eighth with a time of 4:46.8 and Patrick Levenson of Hopkinton took ninth in 4:49.3. Chris Saccardo of Natick rounded out the top 10 at 4:49.7.
Newton North’s Evie Heffernan used a sit-and-kick approach in capturing the girls scholastic race. Heffernan let Melissa Lodge of Hopkinton take the pace for the first two laps and then put in a big surge onto Newbury St, and out kicked Hopkinton’s Shelby Aarden for the win in 5:23.1. Aarden finished in 5:24 and an exhausted Lodge threw herself across the line in 5:24.8. Heffernan said the race was the first step in whittling her way back down to her personal best of 5:07. “I was hoping for a win, she said. “I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pull it off, but I was hoping for it. This was perfect running weather. The terrain was different and there were sharper turns.” Lodge made the decision to move hard because she was feeling better than expected. After, she said it probably wasn’t the best strategy. “I was feeling good so I decided just to go for it,” said Lodge. “I wasn’t quite able to pull it off in the end.
“I probably should have held back a little bit at the beginning, but they had a great race. I wish I could have kicked a little sooner and a little harder, but it was the first time I’ve really raced this season and this is a different setting.” Aarden had no intention of pushing the pace at the front and was content to let her teammate do the work in the early going. “I was planning on following the leaders and seeing how I felt at the end,” said Aarden. “I felt pretty good so I really sprinted at the end. I wanted to get at least third.”
Natick had a good outing with Ellie Holman and Annie McElaney taking fourth and fifth in 5:34.8 and 5:39, respectively. Carly Muscaro of Ashland took sixth in 5:41.8, just in front of teammate Hannah Daly’s 5:42. Brookline’s Hannah McGrath was eighth in 5:42.5 and her teammate Kristen Skillman took ninth at 5:43.2. Newton South’s Anna Laurence finished strong in 5:47 to take 10th. |