McNulty, Feehan have fastest kick

Peabody’s Catarina Rocha surely could have bettered Shalane Flanagan’s 1999 course record of 17:54, but when she took a good, hard look over her shoulder with a mile to go and saw no one, Rocha opted to cruise home over the final mile and save herself for this Saturday’s Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships in Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. Rocha eased into the finish in 18:06.12 to capture her second straight Div. 1 title in what was the most dominant performance of the morning. Christine Davis of Acton-Boxboro was jubilant as she made her way through the finish-line chute after taking second in 18:51.02. Lowell’s Bryanna Allison was third in 18:56.84 and early leader Lauren O’Neil of Falmouth took fourth in 19:03.72. Newton South freshman Rebecca Grusby, who was second to Rocha in the Div. 1 EMass race, was fifth in 19:07.69. The race, for Rocha, was another stepping stone moving ahead which she hopes will ultimately lead her to the Foot Locker finals in December. “The goal is always to make it to all states,” she said, showing no signs of the effort she put in for the win. “Going to (Foot Locker) Regionals next week is just a bonus for me. I just take them one at a time. Rocha admitted she didn’t need to be in the lead 400 meters into the race, but rather to be near the leaders. “I stayed with everyone early,” she said. “I took the lead after the 800 and ran my own race. I toned it down a little bit (in the last mile) to save something for next week.”

Peabody rebounded nicely after a somewhat disappointing third-place finish in the Div. 1 EMass race to capture the team title. The Rocha-led Tanners put up 108 points to edge out Henry Phelan’s Lincoln-Sudbury squad (117 points) and a gritty Needham club (118 points). Whitman-Hanson’s powerful team was fourth with 124 points while Amherst-Pelham’s 135 points was good for fifth place. Behind Rocha, Peabody’s Heather Maclean and Lauren Barrett finished in the 16th and 17th slots in 19:47.33 and 19:51.23, respectively.

Abbey McNulty and Bedford’s Erin Dietz went back and forth in the lead in the Div. 2 race after the Bishop Feehan star surged away from the cluster of runners at the top of the hill. A 5:10 miler, McNulty doesn’t have a blazing kick, but she can finish hard and that’s just what she did in pulling away for the win in 18:20.72. The rookie Dietz was second in 18:31.65 and Kerri Keohane of Tyngsboro took third in 19:56.03. Third a year ago as a sophomore, McNulty will be looking to defend her title next fall in Gardner when the state meet shifts to Central Mass. McNulty was finally able to break Dietz with 800 meters remaining and never let up until she crossed the finish line. “I went out in the lead pack and when I got to the top of the hill I knew I had to push,” said McNulty. “She was with me the whole way. It was back and forth. I was pushing myself the whole way. That’s the whole point of racing. You know that you fought your hardest. “I poured it on in the last straightaway. I couldn’t go any faster.”

The day was doubly exciting for McNulty as the Shamrocks captured their eye-popping fourth consecutive state team title. Brynna Harum was Bishop Feehan’s No. 2 runner, placing 13th in 19:39.8. The Shamrocks finished with 73 points edging out Tyngsboro (90 points) and Weston (133 points).

 

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