James Earley Invitational
Stanley Park saw plenty of action this weekend, starting with Friday’s 17th Annual James Earley Invite.
lThe meet was hosted by the Westfield State Owls. It had the largest field to date, as DIII teams came from across New England to preview this year’s regional course.
James Earley Invitational
(Kerri Lambert, Photo from Amherst team page)
Amherst College took second in both the men and women’s races. Senior Keri Lambert (Amherst) torched the field in the women’s 6k, with a winning margin of over 20 seconds. Lizzy Briskin (Dover-Sherborn), Lauren Almeida(Reading Memorial), and Caroline Rose packed it in behind her, all posting top twenty finishes. The Lord Jeff men sat out their top guys, but still turned in a strong team performance powered by top twenty five placings from Charlie Reighard, Dillon Buckley, and Dan Crowley(Ludlow).
Westfield defended their turf well, finishing 5th in the women’s race and 7th in the men’s. Sophomore Amy Trainque(Fitchburg) led the women, running 23:05; the men were paced by senior Anthony Frissora(Shrewsbury).
The women of Wellesley had a total team performance. Despite having no one in the top 25, the Blue’s scoring five all finished in the top 50, led by Ada Smith. Wellesley finished 3rd as a team.
Another strong Mass performance came from the WPI Engineers. Sophomore Ryan Moran(Pembroke) had a great day, running 26:35 for 13th and leading WPI to a 4th place team finish. Also impressive were the Bridgewater State duo of Stephen Wahome (Lowell) and David Phipps(Bishop Feehan), whose 1-2 punch of 8th and 12th place finishes propelled the squad to 6th place.
Open New England Championships
The premier event of the weekend was absolutely Sunday’s Open New England Championships. Traditionally held at Franklin Park, construction forced it out west to Westfield’s Stanley Park. The meet features schools from all three divisions. While some teams may have sat their top runners, New England’s definitely offers a good look at where many teams are at going into conference meets.
By far the surprise of the day has to go to the winner of the men’s individual title. Anyone who’s attended New England’s in recent years would likely not be too shocked to hear that an American International College harrier took the win- after all, AIC senior Glarius Rop is the three-time defending champ. However, it was freshman Michael Biwott who stormed to the front from the
gun and never let up, running 23:56 in his collegiate debut! Rop finished 9th, in 24:26. The pair will undoubtedly contend for the individual DII regional and national titles, and might shake things up team-wise in the NE-10 conference to boot.
In the team race up front, Boston University got an excellent start, with sub-4 miler Rich Peters taking 2nd place. Boston College responded in kind, however, with seniors Louis Serafini and Jordan Hamm both running
24:30 to take the 4th and 5th spots. With Tyler King adding only 18 more points, the Eagles were able to build up a lead unmatched by any but Dartmouth College, finishing 2nd. The Terriers weren’t far back, taking 4th; notably, freshman Alec Olson and Kevin Thomas(Marshfield) were 3rd and 4th for BU.
Proving they could mix it up with the big boys, Divison III schools Tufts and Williams also finished up front. The Tuft Jumbo’s upset the Ephs; seniors Matt Rand and Kyle Marks led the pack to 5th place, a mere 13 points back from BU. Williams looked a little off, finishing in 8th, but still had a great day from junior Chris Lee(Longmeadow), who ran 25:08. The NESCAC meet should be a serious rock fight, as pretty much every top DIII New England team will be facing off.
I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention great runs by Northeastern’s Wesley Gallagher(Pembroke), who ran 24:42 for 12th and was the 2nd fastest frosh, and Bentley’s Rob Dextradeur, whose 24:45 run marks him as a strong candidate for one of the DII East regional’s individual national qualifying slots (although there’s no doubt he’s looking to go as a team).
The women’s 5k also saw a team defend its individual title, as BU’s Monica Adler(Beverly) achieved her first collegiate victory, running 17 flat (BU’s Katie Matthew’s was last year’s winner). The Terrier women rallied behind her to a 7th place finish. The team race was all about Boston College, however. Their scoring five of Bridget Dahlberg, Liv Westphal, Elizabeth O’Brien, Moira Kenny, and Brittany Winslow all finished in the top 20, securing the victory for the Eagles.
(Tara Dooley photo from Bentley Team Page)
The women’s race also featured a real heavyweight battle between Williams and MIT, the #1 and #2 teams in the country. Ultimately, MIT came out on top, powered by strong runs from freshman Sarah Quinn and sophomore Elaine McVay. Williams had some bad luck, as one of their runners fell in the woods; however, they still finished 8th as a team, led by Junior Kaleigh Kenny. Bentley soph Tara Dooley(Lee) also had an outstanding run, finishing 6th in 17:37 (the top DII athlete).