Big Weekend Produces Certain Shakeup in the Polls

 

In what is the first true invitational weekend on the calendar, we in Massachusetts now have a much more defined look at the top teams in the state. On the boys side, top-10's Lowell, Pembroke, Brookline, Shrewsbury, and Westfield were all in action in three different states. On the girls side of things, the top four was idle, but Weston, Newton South, Lincoln-Sudbury, Amherst, Wachusett, Needham, Longmeadow, Concord-Carlisle, Haverhill, Notre Dame, Brookline, and Dennis-Yarmouth all took to the races, all except Weston and L-S at Amherst. The highlights were plenty...

 

  • You have to start with a pair of runners-up in New York, where Pembroke's boys and Weston's girls fought off a tough field at the Bowdoin Park Classic, run on arguably the region's toughest 5K course. Coach Zopatti's squad was more than up for the challenge from the field, well, everyone except for US #1 Christian Brothers Academy (NJ), who took the top five places in simply dominating fashion. But Pembroke used top 15 finishes from juniors Christian Stafford (8th; 16:29) and Johnny Valeri (13th; 16:45) to distance themselves from 3rd place Northport, and then put it away with solid runs from Pat Cunningham (17:15) and Billy Stafford (17:21). Prving the "P" on the front of the jersey stands for program, the JV team also took 2nd to CBA, led by Phil Martin and Mike McMahan's top 5 finishes.

 

  • Not to be outdone by the Titans, John Monz's Weston Wildcats had a day of their own. Missing the win by just 13 points on what was a very close meet, Weston settled for 2nd to Miller Place, thanks to strong races from Abigail Pohl (16th; 20:39) and Edom Wessenyelah (26th; 21:05). Weston also has some new names to draw from, given the graduation of two of the state's best in Olivia Brackett and Charlotte Walmsley. Zoe Snow has returned to form, running 21:31, but newcomers Cara Lembo (21:38) and Patty Atkinson (21:56) gave the squad the lift it needed to pull out the trophy.

 

              

  • Up in Manchester (NH), Lowell butted heads with US #20 Bishop Hendricken (RI). Pat Coppinger nearly pulled out the win in the Elite Division, losing to South Burlington's Malcolm Plunkett at the tape, each man in at 15:50. Mike Kalenoski wasn't far behind in 16:23, and junior Randy Nong stayed in the top 10 at 16:29. With three top-10 finishes, it was one fewer than Hendricken, who poured 5 into the top 12 to take the win, but Lowell countered nicely with Nick McArdle (16:52) as well as Andrew Whitney and James Rocha, each finishing in the top 35. Lowell is nothing if not deep, and they showed that off with three of the top 11 finishers in the JV race as well. Martha's Vineyard made the trip as well, placing 5th in the small schools division.

 

  • On the girls side, in the Large Schools race, Lincoln-Sudbury took away a depth-victory, despite having no runners in the top 15. Sophomore Sydeny Clary was the top Warrior to finish (20th; 20:38), just ahead of senior Katie Lascaleia (22nd; 20:42) and newcomer Morgane Butler (24th; 20:48). With depth being the key in a deeper race like this, the work of seniors Daniela Hargus and Sam Cook to stay in the top 35 was enough to catapult L-S to the win. On the small schools side, Ursuline Academy, racing without Megan Grela, was 4th, riding three top 35 finishes of their own. Lindsay Baryluk (17th; 20:39), Maddie Wolfe (23rd; 20:49), and Sara Bent (28th; 21:06) held close enough together to stay within a dozen points of 3rd place Hopkinton (NH), and this team could be formidable come November

 

  • Amherst's Girls Invitational was a spirited affair, won by the home team, who put on a show, making the claim as the state's most underrated team in the process. Amherst always seems to have seniors enter the season vastly improved and ready to make an immediate impact, and the threesome of Mel Devoney, Sara Vannah, and Emmy Zimmerman have kept that tradition alive. Devoney was 3rd in 18:42, behind a tour de force performance from Jordan O'Dea of Dennis-Yarmouth in 18:06 and Shepherd Hill's Stella Worters in 18:37. O'Dea simply ran away from the field, but her Dolphins couldn't get into the hunt for the team title. That belonged to the Hurricanes when Vannah finished in 19:19, Zimmerman in 19:40, and Anna Kaplan in 20:03. Needham, fresh off its first win over Weymouth since 2007 and a B-line towards its first BSC title ever, took 2nd in a close battle with Notre Dame (Hingham), Newton South, and Nashoba. Each team had its front-runner, and freshmen ruled the day. NDA's Elizabeth Constantino (19:12) was its top finisher, Needham was led by senior Caroline Turner (19:28), and Nashoba's Rylee Gillen (4th; 18:44) and Newton South's Rebecca Grusby (7th; 18:54) were the top freshman finishers in the meet. Haverhill's Jackie Solimine (5th; 18:45) and Manon Blackmon (6th; 18:51) filled out a top-5 under 19:00, and the race featured 24 under 20:00 on the fast track at Amherst. 

 

The boys meet at Amherst was equally intense, with a battle roayle unfolding throughout. Wachusett's Colin Bennie was never really challenged, winning in 15:41, matching the course record from 2011. Westfield's Blake Croteau gave him a run, but Bennie is just too fit and too fast for anyone right now. Danbury (CT) walked away with the team title, but the battle for best Mass. team was a 4-way race between Westfield (2nd; 133 points), Wachusett (4th; 141), Shrewsbury (5th; 150), and Brookline (6th; 165). Westfield had the best 1-2 pnch with seniors Croteau and Tim Dostie (4th; 16:01) each taking top-5 finishes. Wachusett featured a solid pack behind Bennie of Brian Cusack (28th; 16:50), Cole Burgess (37th; 16:57) and Tim Fitzgerald (38th; 16:58). Shrewsbury was led by Dan Wentworth (8th; 16:11) and a group of three more under 17:00, and Brookline got good races from Jesse Fajnzylber (17th; 16:30) and Aaron Klein (21st; 16:35) for their place. Adrian Amaya of Needham (5th 16:10) and Brian Crowley of Ldulow (9th; 16:13) were the other top-10 finishers from Mass. not on a top-6 team.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Although not this weekend, a great dual meet between BC High and Xaverian took place on Tuesday at Southie's Coakley Park. Ian O'Leary led the Eagles to a 27-28 victory, thanks to a 16:56 clocking, and every place counted after that. Look out for these two teams, as if either can knock off St. John's Prep, the Catholic Conference regular seaosn title might be shared.