In what is almost certainly the biggest weekend of results so far this fall, three meets dominated the XC scene on Saturday. For those looking South, Bishop Feehan's boys and girls squads took to Cary, NC for the Great American XC Festival. A little less South, Rhode Island hosted the Ocean State XC Invitational. Those looking to stay closer to home, Wrentham was the site of the Frank Kelly Invitational. A word about Frank Kelly, the patriarch of the MSTCA meet at Wrentham today. Coaches know Frank as the wise-cracking gentleman who hands out the packets and pins at the table at many Mass. XC meets. If you're lucky, he might challenge you to an arm wrestling match, as he did John Monz today. If you're unlucky, you might take him up on it. Frank is a true gentleman of the sport, loves the kids involved, and has been involved in it since anyone can remember. Kudos to the MSTCA for giving Frank his due and naming this meet after him. Even more kudos to whoever designed the program, complete with a silhouette of Frank with his patented safari hat and walking stick. What a legend!
On to the races...
In the Championship boys race at Great American, MA #2 Bishop Feehan was led by seniors Evan Grandfield (15:59) in 59th and Mike Hanley (16:01) in 61st. The team was unable to repeat its patented 1-5 low spread though, almost certainly due to the massive speed and size of the loaded race. Taking 21st might seem like a problem to Feehan, who is obviously used to higher finishes, but when you consider that US#1 Christian Brothers Academy dominated and NE#1 Bishop Hendricken was 10th, Feehan's day was far from problemati
The #3 Shamrock girls had a similar experience at Great American, watching some of the country's best teams scream around the blazing fast course, and finishing 18th out of 27. With nationally ranked teams like Tatnall(DE) and Saratoga Springs (NY) in their race, Feehan went for it, and ran some strong 5K times. Junior Abbey McNulty seems ready to go, placing 25th in 18:24, by far the Rocks top finisher. Brynna Harum (68th; 19:25) was next, and Feehan brought in a whole pack under 20:15 after her. This is a formidable Feehan team once again for L'Homme and Powell to deal with.
At Ocean State, several of the state's top 25 were on display form each gender, but no team had more to prove than boys #7 St. John's HS. Looking every bit like a state champion contender, SJS was led by Jonathon Green, looking every bit like an individual state champion. Green went 15:29, without a doubt a meet record (I refuse to look that one up) on a day filled with puddles and problems. Green and Lexington's Nat Adams put on a show, with Adams dipping to 2nd in 15:49. By the time Alex Crowley, Connor Murphy, and Kyle Johnson crossed the line, not 17 minutes had passed and not 12 runners had finished, making St. John's the runaway winner. #18 Lexington stayed close, as Adams was helped by a great pack, led by Ben Jacobson, but in the end they settled for 2nd.
The boys DII (large school) race had plenty of Mass. flavor as well. Another St. John's, this one of the #13 Prep variety, took a narrow win over Kellenberg 93-98. The Prep needed every bit of Liam Dow (5th; 16:35) and Tim Loehner's (7th; 16:41) races, and rode a nice pack effort to six guys under 17:25. Not far behind were #12 Chelmsford in 3rd and #23 BC High in 4th. Chelmsford had the individual winner as well, as Quinn Cooney outlasted Nashua North's Craig Hammond for the win. Cooney got help from Dan Nolan in 15th to ride the Lions to 3rd. BC High was led by senior Ian O'Leary (4th; 16:33) a Weymouth-native who is putting together a great finale campaign. In the DI (small schools) race, Owen Wiggins of Norwell was 4th in 16:28, but it was a pair of bubble teams in Hopedale (2nd) and Martha's Vineyard (4th) who took the top team spots.
The girls at Ocean State were also well-represented. #2 Hamilton-Wenham rode a 5th place finish from Emily Weigand (19:03) and an 18th place from Emily Horgan(19:53) to 5th overall in the Championship race. Colleen Sands of Wachusett was 8th in 19:21, running separate from her squad, who stayed home. H-W looked deep, with seven under 21:21, the sign of a team ready for a late-season surge. #23 Dover-Sherborn was 3rd in the DI race, led by some lesser known stars in Olivia Cannon (7th; 20:02) and Michelle Allesandro (15th; 20:26), but it was Notre Dame (Worcester's) Emily Knox (6th; 19:58) and Jane Clark (9th; 20:09) who served up the best 1-2 punch in that race. The #11 Chelmsford girls took control of the DII race, not unlike their male counterparts, riding a great effort form Alli Wood (9th; 19:49) and solid performances from Megan Duffy, Ally Turner, and Casey Taylor, all under 21:00. Cassie Peterson (14th; 20:17) brought #14 Lexington a 3rd place trophy, and Mansfield's Sami Carey (4th; 19:29) and Hopkinton's Melissa Lodge (8th; 19:38) were individual stars on the day.
Three ranked teams topped the Frank Kelley DII race in Wrentham, as #10 Sandwich rode the Infascelli Express into town and blasted a 65-point effort and a nice win along the way. James Wegman (7th; 16:29) led the way for Sandwich, but it was solid tightening of the pack that got them the win. Henry Daniels-Koch (11th; 16:57), James Silverman (14th; 17:08), and Jake Barry (19th; 17:16) held it together to get the job done. #20 Newburyport got the runner-up trophy, as well as the individual win from sophomore Nick Carleo ("'s Way") in 15:56. Carleo had to outgun Swampscott senior Peter Hale, and did so in dramatic fashion. Teammate Joe Santo (8th; 16:47) gave the Clippers another top gun. #25 Seekonk was 3rd without a top-24 finisher, but packed in a quintet of sophomores, including Alex Lanzi, Kevin Mullen, and the Salit triplets.
The DI race featured a nice 4-man individual race that #24 Methuen's Mike O'Donnell finally won in 15:56, pulling away from a "where can I sign up for his summer program" Brian Amaral of Tewksbury, easily the state's most improved runner. Nolan Parsley of Weymouth was 4th in 16:07, and those guys sandwiched #3 Lowell's Patrick Coppinger, who turned around in the chute and saw teammates Mike "Killer" Kalenoski (6th; 16:23), Nick McArdle (8th; 16:24), and Johnny Abraham (9th; 16"25) finishing before he could catch his breath. Lowell thrashed the field with 52 points, but #21 Billerica raced to a surprising 2nd, thanks to PJ Garmon (10th; 16:28), Scott Arsenault (12th; 16:30), Joe Schultz (13th; 16:30), and Brendan Knickle (15th; 16:33) packing in tight. Eli Hoenig (7th; 16:23) led bubble team Lincoln-Sudbury to 3rd, a team that will likely find the rankings next week. Methuen and #11 Acton-Boxborough rounded out the top 5
Surely of note had to be the stunning run of the three Cambridge R&L freshmen, Esitya Elemseged (10:08), Sam Stubbs (10;09) and Daniel Aschale (10:11) taking the top 3 spots in the DI freshman boys race. Cambridge looks strong for years to come with this trio at the front.
Moving up the poll next week should be #25 Ursuline Academy, as Tom Shaw's girls annihilated the field in the DII girls race, scoring 62 points. Maddie Wolfe (7th; 19:51) and Meghan Grela (10th; 20:16) ran smart races for Ursuline, ignoring the blistering pace set by Foxborough's Liz Holmes, who took the front at the gun and never looked back, clocking an 18:29 time. Ipswich got its sister act on with Sarah (2nd; 18:50) and Tina Kieran (6th; 19:49) leading the way. Lynnfield senior Lexi Buonfiglio (3rd; 19:27), Arlington Catholic's Janelle Solviletti (4th; 19:44), and Manchester-Essex's Fiona Davis (19:48) rounded out the top 5.
The freshman races featured perhaps the best group we have ever seen at this meet, with 17 DI girls under 13:00 for the 1.9 mile jaunt. When Whitman-Hanson's Sam Coletti took it out from jump street, she looked possessed, but might not have realized what Newton South's Rebecca Grusby had in store. Grusby (11:13) passed at the mile and never let up, as Coletti settled for 2nd ahead of Lowell's Kaley Richards (11:58) and Weymouth's Kacie Higgins (12:00). In the DII race, West. Bridgewater's Allison Wyman (11:52) outlasted a field led by Pembroke's Cassie Hickey (12:04).
#5 Peabody's Cat Rocha made mince meat out of the DI girls race, finishing first in 17:40, better than 280 varsity boys on the day, and a time that would have placed her 38th in the DII boys race (she would have made every squad's top 5, save for Sandwich). Rocha simply wanted it more than anybody else, leading early and pulling away, with dad and coach Joe Rocha screaming at her to make a statement. Here's the statement, I'll make it for her- we can all stop wondering if anybody is better. Acton Boxborough's Christina Davis (2nd; 18:35) ran a monster effort of her own, but was nearly a minute back. Rocha wasn't the only one of the Peabody squad who wanted it more, as they rode Sam Allen (6th; 19:08), Lauren Barrett (11th; 19:32), and heather McLean (17th; 19:56) to a substantial win over #1 Whitman-Hanson, who used Gianna Cacciatorre (5th; 19:04), Rachel Baker (12th; 19:36), and Caroline Mulrey (22nd; 20:03) to grab 2nd place. #9 Lowell was 3rd, led by Bryanna Allison (18:54) and her 3rd place finish, and the tag-team of Jackie Solimine (4th; 19:03) and Riley Gilmore (10th; 19:25) of #20 Haverhill, Shelby Cuddleback (7th; 19:10) of Attleboro, Ashley Betts of #12 Weymouth (8th; 19:12), and Falmouth's Lauren O'Neil (9th; 19:13) rounded out the outstanding top-10. #10 Notre Dame (Hingham) was 4th, despite having no runners in the top-25, thanks to a great team mentality, bubble teams Oliver Ames, Billerica, and Acton-Boxborough were 6th, 7th, and 9th, and #24 Franklin was 8th. #12 Weymouth, #13 Newton South, and #17 Masconomet ran partial teams, while unranked North Andover placed 10th and #25 Walpole placed 11t
Looking ahead this week, some great dual meets are on tap. The MVC features girls #20 Haverhill traveling to #9 Lowell, as well as a both gender battle between Chelmsford and Andover, where on the girls side the Lions rank 11th and the Warriors are on the bubble. Weymouth faces off with Brookline on Tuesday at Wompatuck State Park, with the boys meet pitting the #8 team against a bubble team form the home side. The girls meet will feature #12 and the visitors are #20. Girls #25 Walpole, Girls #8/ boys #16 Needham and Girls bubble team/ boys #9 Newton North face off at Needham's Cutler Park on Tuesday as well. Boys bubble team/ girls #13 Newton South dukes it out with boys #11/ girls bubble team Acton-Boxborough on Wednesday in what should be a fun meet on both sides. That day in the DCL, two of the state's best girls teams in #4 Weston and #7 Lincoln-Sudbury take to the trails. That day we'll also see boys #2 Bishop Feehan battle bubble team Martha's Vineyard.
FRANK KELLEY INVITATIONAL RESULTS
OCEAN STATE INVITATIONAL RESULTS
<p> Coach Greg Zopatti of Pembroke High School, recaps all the weekend action.</p>