WRENTHAM – All hail Catarina The Great.
Peabody’s Catarina Rocha put on a solo performance that further cemented the senior’s growing legend in Saturday’s Div. 1 race at the EMass Cross Country Championships on the grounds of the Wrentham Developmental Center.
Rocha, who can inarguably be mentioned in the same breath as Marblehead great and Olympic bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan as the best female cross country runner in the state ever, made tatters of the field. She passed the mile alone in 5:20 and bulled her way over the 3.1-mile grass course for an intimidating meet-record victory in 17 minutes, 27.4 seconds. Newton South freshman talent Rebecca Grusby was second in 18:18.1 and Christine Davis of Acton-Boxboro clinched third place with her 18:24.9.
Heading into the state meet Saturday at Northfield Mountain, Rocha is the overwhelming favorite. Barring sickness, injury or a force of nature, Rocha will win her second consecutive state Div. 1 title. Rocha, who hasn’t had a competitor finish closer than 30 seconds to her all season, approached the race with her usual blue-collar attitude. “It was good,” Rocha said of her effort. “I ran it like any other race. I wanted a good hard effort. I felt stronger than last time (Frank Kelly Invitational) and I ran faster. Hopefully I get a little better each time. I wanted to run hard because Northfield is such a hard course. The season is coming close to the end.” Newton South freshman Rebecca Grusby continued her tremendous rookie season by pushing hard over the final 400 yards to take second in 18:18.1 and Acton-Boxboro’s always-tough Christine Davis was third in 18:24.9. Rocha will be joined in Western Mass by her team after Peabody took third overall with 117 points. Lowell took the win with 83 points and Lexington finished with 106 points for second. Bryanna Allison led the Lowell charge with a solid fourth-place finish in 18:27.4.
Bishop Feehan’s Abbey McNulty had a sensational race in capturing the Div. 4 event. Along with Rocha, McNulty was the only other girl to break 18 minutes on the day. She was an easy winner in 17:53.8. Shelby Aarden of Hopkinton was second in 18:37.1 and defending state Div. 2 champion Jordan O’Dea of Dennis-Yarmouth clocked 19:01.1 for third. The Shamrocks ran away with the team title by placing their first five harriers in the top 13 for 40 points. Hopkinton was second with 105 points and Hingham was third at 118 points. McNulty grew impatient early and took the lead before she planned. “I wasn’t expecting to take the lead,” she said. “I wanted to go out with the lead pack. I knew I could go faster.” McNulty believes her finest hour could come at Saturday’s state meet at Northfield Mountain. “I don’t mind the hills that much,” she said. “I’m more of a strength runner. It’s going to be a good race and really tough.”
Falmouth’s Lauren O’Neil never trailed in the Div. 3 race and was an easy winner in 18:42.4. O’Neil was seventh in last year’s Div. 2 state meet and only wants a hard effort this time around. “I’m just going to go out and do my best,” she said. “I felt a lot better today than last week (at the Coaches Invitational). I ran hard in the middle loop. I had the lead at the mile mark. Towards the end it was a little iffy.”
Whitman-Hanson stacked five runners in the first 15 to dominate the team competition with 51 points. Gianna Cacciatore led the Panthers with sixth place in 19:25.2. Freshman Margie Cullen of Needham sprinted away from Sydney Clary of Lincoln-Sudbury for the 18:53.4 win in the Div. 2 race. Clary was steps back in 18:59.3 and Mansfield’s Sami Carey ran 19:04.3 for third.
Cullen tucked in the pack of 15 runners over the first mile and when that cluster dropped to five at 2 miles, she made a hard move to take the lead. “It (the big pack) was a little nerve-racking and I was glad when I could get rid of them,” Cullen said. “I tried to surge around the corners and on the hills. I really like hills.”
Bedford sophomore Erin Dietz continued her amazing rookie season by taking the Div. 5 race in 18:41. Dietz originally wanted to run with the pack through 2 miles, but grew restless and opted to make a break earlier. “I wanted to stay with the pack for the first mile or two, but then I decided to pull ahead after the first mile,” said Dietz. “When I knew I had it I didn’t try to kill myself.” Weston’s Edom Wessenyeleh took eighth to full her squad to the team with 53 points. It was enough to defeat Hamilton-Wenham (74 points) and Newburyport (140 points).
In Div. 6, Ipswich’s Sarah Keiran trailed Sarah Saccoach of Archbishop Williams through a 5:35 opening mile early before switching gears and sprinting home in 18:41.8. Saccoach held on for second in 18:50.5 and Lexi Buonfiglio of Lynnfield was third in 19:20.6. “I was trying to keep up with her,” said Keiran with a smile. “I surged at the mile and we were going at the same pace. I knew she was a good runner. There are a lot of good runners in Div. 6. I obviously want to have the best race of my life at the state meet.”
Ursuline Academy finished with 96 points to edge out Lynnfield (100 points) and Dover-Sherborn (108 points).
Methuen’s Mike O’Donnell saw where he could make his break and he jumped on it immediately in the Div. 1 event. Racing against an enormously competitive field, O’Donnell tucked his shoulder down and leaned into a corner near the halfway mark to put daylight between himself and Lexington’s Nate Adams. A 10-yard advantage turned into 50 by the time O’Donnell crossed the finish line in 15:27.1 The time was the fastest of a day that was loaded with impressive front-running by some of the state’s top harriers and makes O’Donnell one of the favorites heading into Northfield Mountain.
O’Donnell had about enough of the talented Adams after passing the mile in a scalding 4:45. “I made a move to the right and got the lead,” said O’Donnell. I cut the tangent. Winning this was my goal all season. I felt a lot better than I thought I would. I didn’t look back but I knew he was there.”
Adams was a strong second in 15:43.1 and Patrick Coppinger was third in 15:48.2, leading pre-meet favorite Lowell to the team title. The Red Raiders placed their five scoring runners in the top 20 to finish with a paltry 47 points. Newton North was second (122 points) followed by Lexington in third (142 points).
Cambridge freshman Sam Stubbs was hardly intimidated by the competition as he broke from a four-runner pack with 400 yards remaining for an impressive 15:59.9 win in the Div. 2 race. Needham’s Adrian Amaya was second in 16:03.3 and Chelmsford’s Quinn Cooney took third in 16:03.6. “I was still in the pack when it started to break up,” said Stubbs. “I went with 400 to go.” Cooney paced the Lions to first place in the team scoring with 53 points. Cambridge was second with 87 points and Lincoln-Sudbury took third with 104 points.
Paul Hogan of Burlington (15:31.5) and Swampscott’s Peter Hale (15:46.7) tore through the rolling layout to capture the Div. 4 and 5 races, respectively. Pembroke outlasted a strong Bishop Feehan squad in the Div. 4 race, finishing with 36 points to the Shamrocks’ 48 points. Hale bode his time in the pack and surged on a downhill with 400 yards left to take the lead for good. “I could feel myself slowing down and they were starting to break away,” he said. “I thought I couldn’t catch them then. Starting on the third lap I knew I had to keep the distance close.” Hogan moved hard just past 2 miles (10:00) to break Pembroke’s John Valeri (2nd, 15:45.4) and Christian Stafford (3rd, 15:46.6). “I threw in a surge with a mile to go and was able to break away,” said Hogan. “I was dying at the end, but I’m really happy with the race.”
Daniel MacDonald Meeter of Arlington dueled with King Philip’s Owen Gonser before pulling away for a 15:46.3 win. Tewksbury won the tie breaker with Wellesley in the team competition. Both teams finished with 114 points, but the Redmen’s sixth runner defeated the Warriors’ No. 6 man for the win.
Owen Wiggins of Norwell was an easy winner in the Div. 6 race, easily outdistancing Tanner Picklus of East Bridgewater for the 16:26.1 victory. Seekonk was victorious in the team competition with 66 points. Wiggins was in the clear after a 5:02 opening mile and was pleased with his win after finishing second last fall. Despite the lead, Wiggins was ready to surge again if Picklus put in a big move over the final mile. “I wanted this real bad,” said Wiggins. “He (Picklus) is a great runner. I went hard the whole way. I’m looking forward to the competition (on Saturday). I had to run thinking he’d come back on me.”
