McConville Shines Under the Lights Joe Reardon Oct 14, 2012

Hingham’s Julie McConville found the limelight to her liking at Saturday night’s enormously popular MSTCA Twilight Cross Country Invitational.

McConville shook Bishop Feehan’s Abbey McNulty by the mile mark in the small school division and it was a clear route to the finish over the fast, 3.1-mile Barnstable Fairgrounds layout. Her blazing 17:30.6 finish put her well ahead of Tyngsboro runner-up Kerri Keohane (18:06.03) and Renee Caps of Narragansett (18:18.04). McNulty finished fourth in 18:22.11 and Hopkinton’s Shelby Aarden rounded out a solid top five with an 18:34.13. The races were held under the lights on the fairground layout and attracted more than 2,700 harriers from Massachusetts

 

Rocha Enjoying Team Success Joe Reardon Sep 30, 2012

  This fall will be a season of firsts for Foxboro sophomore Liz Holmes in her rookie year of cross country. A freshman phenom who ran a 4:54 mile last year, Holmes showed her talents go beyond the sterile track atmosphere at Saturday’s Frank Kelly Cross Country Invitational.Holmes was alone by the time she reached the mile in 5:44 and extended her lead over the new, soggy 3.1-mile Wrentham Developmental Center layout. She crossed the finish line in 18 minutes, 29.3 seconds for a commanding win. Sarah Kieran of Ipswich took second in 18:50.4 and Lynnfield’s Lexi Buonfiglio was third with a time of 19:27.3. Holmes was pleased with the win but a little disappointed she wasn’t able to test herself against Dennis-Yarmouth standout Jordan O’Dea. The defending Div. 2 state champion, O’Dea passed on the Kelly meet after her easy win last Saturday in the Amherst Invitational. Holmes, though, knows she’ll get her shot at taking on O’Dea. “I thought she (O’Dea) was going to be here,” said Holmes. “I was looking forward to trying to stay with her. I was hoping to see what it would come down to and who the stronger runner was. I like the big meets in cross country and track because you see all the runners you know from the other divisions.”  Holmes has no doubt that she’ll be stronger when the big meets in November roll around. “I feel stronger than I did running over the summer,” she said. “That’s a great race. Everyone ran really well. It was hard. I can really feel it in my quads. I’m not out of breath though. I liked the course a lot.”

Bennie, O'Dea Start Fast at Amherst Joe Reardon Sep 22, 2012

Jordan O’Dea dashed across the finish line and then limped through the finish chute at yesterday’s Amherst Cross Country Invitational, gasping for air and looking to get out of the hot sun. The Dennis-Yarmouth senior quickly made her way to the makeshift first aid tent just beyond the finish line and began drinking cups of water and cooling herself off with cold facecloths. As tired as O’Dea was though, her smile was unmistakable. O’Dea has every reason to smile after her first invitational performance of the fall. The defending Div. 2 state cross country champion got bumped around at the starting line, but by the time she reached the mile mark in a quick 5:19 O’Dea had a 20-yard lead and was starting to pull away. She ran unchallenged the rest of the way and crossed the finish line of the rural, 5K Hampshire College course in a quick 18 minutes, 6 seconds. O’Dea’s time put her well ahead of Stella Worters of Shepherd Hill (18:37) and Mel Devoney of Amherst Regional (18:42).

Franklin Park Project Shuffles X-C Schedule Joe Reardon Aug 14, 2012

The paths, trails and thoroughfares of New England’s cross country mecca won’t have the stampede of harriers traversing the fabled course at any level this fall.  Save for possibly the Mayor’s Cup in October, Franklin Park will be silent as repairs to the race-weary layout begin. The Mayor’s Capital Budget is funding the project’s $116,000 cost, includes repair work on two portions of the cross country layout. The project work from now until late spring 2013 entails key sections of the cross country track: Bear Cage Hill and Valley Gates. Work is also scheduled for Playstead Field.

Gallagher, Blackman Win Falmouth Mile Joe Reardon Aug 13, 2012

Marshfield’s Joel Hubbard has been packing in mileage for his rookie cross country season at Syracuse University, so it made complete sense to him that he throw a move, more akin of a distance race, at the field in Saturday evening’s 16th Annual Falmouth Scholastic Boys Mile on the speedy high school oval.  Racing in warm, breezy conditions under a threatening sky, Hubbard bolted to the front of the tight pack with 400 meters remaining, only to have Pembroke’s Wesley Gallagher surge past him with 200 meters left and hold on for the victory in 4 minutes, 33.98 seconds. Hubbard nailed down second in 4:36.94, the same time as teammate Kevin Thomas who was third. Brendan Robertson of Westboro finished fourth with his 4:38.39.  Gallagher, who has been running 75-mile weeks on the quiet roads of Pembroke, was happy with the win and didn’t give much thought to his time. “This is off of no track training,” said the Northeastern-bound Gallagher. “I’m just doing all cross country training. This is off of nothing. I’m happy with the race.  “I wanted to hang in the back. I realized we were going 5-minute pace. I was scared he (Hubbard) was going to hold that kick the whole way. When there was 200 to go and I passed him, I was really scared he was going to come right up on me. I just wanted to go for the win.” Hubbard, who clocked a scalding 4:09.74 mile to finish second to Mansfield’s Josh Lampron in the state meet, was curious to see what kind of mile her could run solely off of distance training. “I haven’t really trained for this at all,” he said. “I knew I didn’t have that much speed in me so I figured I’d go with 400 left instead of 150 or 200, where I’d normally make a move. I wanted to get enough distance on them and try to hold them off. It didn’t really work out that way.”

Up Close : Adam Couitt Joe Reardon May 03, 2012

 For Somerset-Berkley’s Adam Couitt this spring, success in the high jump is all about picking his spots. Take for example the 6-foot sophomore’s own high jump layout on his home track. The surface is hardly conducive to quality jumps with a feel closer to that of concrete than the slick, synthetic rubber surfaces that are popping up at tracks all over the country. What’s more, the athletes aren’t allowed to wear spikes in the event, instead, limited to flats that simply don’t allow the jumpers to get anywhere near the traction they need on their approach.
 

Div I Relays: Khary Bailey-Smith Soars Joe Reardon Apr 29, 2012

FRANKLIN — Given that the goal of Weymouth’s Khary Bailey-Smith this spring is to clear 7 feet, 4 inches in the high jump, his performance yesterday at Franklin High’s Pisini Field wasn’t overly impressive to him.

Bailey-Smith’s jump, however, caused the collective track community at the Division 1 State Coaches Relays to gasp in awe on a day better suited for kite flying.

The talented senior, who will be attending UMass on a football scholarship, bucked a stiff headwind to clear 6-11 for a new personal best. On a day when times and overall performances were affected by the chill and wind, Bailey-Smith’s leap was a beauty.

 

Up Close: Catarina Rocha Joe Reardon Apr 23, 2012

The talent has always been there for Peabody’s Catarina Rocha, but it’s probably her level-headed approach to cross country and track that has set her apart from the cluster of elite female runners in Massachusetts.

For starters, don’t tell Rocha she’s the girl with the bulls eye on her back that the rest of the state is gunning for. As far as she’s concerned, there are too many good runners in Massachusetts for her to think that she’s the clear favorite. As for the pressure to perform well, it just isn’t there. Rocha trains hard and lets the chips fall where they may.

Cayla Hatton Runs To A Higher Level Joe Reardon Apr 02, 2012

In her debut 10K race on the track, Philips Academy senior Cayla Hatton rewrote the history books and moved her high school career to the next level.  Running the 6.2-mile distance in the Tufts Snowflake Invitational, Hatton made it a solo affair as she pushed to a New England record time of 33 minutes, 17.28 seconds. The time was great on several levels. Hatton broke Cathy Schiro’s 1984 New England standard of 33:26.53 and destroyed the Massachusetts best set by Peabody great Lesley Welch of 34:49.2 in 1981.  But maybe even more importantly, Hatton’s time qualified her for the Olympic Trials B cut in the event.  If the top 25 qualifying times in the country aren’t under the A cut time, there’s a possibility Hatton could be competing in the trials come June on the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field track.

Record Assault at the New England Championships Joe Reardon Mar 03, 2012

The buzz about how good Precious Holmes really was began early this winter and continued through the indoor season. The Hillhouse, CT phenom didn’t disappoint the Reggie Lewis Center crowd at Friday night’s 25th New England Interscholastic Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Division Relays: Woburn Thrives Under Pressure Joe Reardon Jan 16, 2012

 

Add Woburn’s Mike McAdams to the short list of tracksters who perform best in pressure-cooking situations.  McAdams came up big for the Tanners in the meet’s finale, clocking a sterling 50.8 leg to edge Woburn past Algonquin for the team title in front of a frenzied Reggie Lewis Center crowd. The Tanners finished with 41 points to Alonquin’s 39, winning in 3:29.08. Algonquin was a step back in 3:29.19.

Massachusetts State Championships: Boys Highlights Joe Reardon Nov 19, 2011

 

Jonathan Green had every reason to be happy after reeling off a sterling time of 15 minutes, 41 seconds in the Division 1 race to outlast always-tough Joel Hubbard of Marshfield (15:42) and Wachusett’s Colin Bennie (15:46). The race proved to be the deepest off the day as eight runners dipped under 16 minutes on what is slowly becoming the legendary 3.1-mile Franklin Park layout.  Pembroke’s Wesley Gallagher had plenty of challengers on his way to defending his Div. 2 title with a scintillating 15:43. Wakefield’s star harrier Stephen Robertson was the final runner to take on Gallagher and finished second in 15:44.   In the team battles, Brookline (110 points) defeated Lowell (147) and Oliver Ames (177) to successfully defend its title from a year ago.  After capturing its third consecutive girls title, Bishop Feehan went to work in the boys Div. 2 race against defending champion Pembroke. Only 21 seconds separated the first five Shamrock runners as they edged out the Titans for the title.

Massachusetts State Championships: Girls Highlights Joe Reardon Nov 19, 2011

Katie Powell and Abbey McNulty finished second and third, respectively, leading Bishop Feehan to its third Division 2 state title in a row. The Shamrocks finished with 65 points to Hamilton-Wenham’s79.  Abby Baker led the Whitman-Hanson girls to the Division 1 team title with her 19:27 for 15th overall.  The Panther's top five couldn't have run much better as they finished within 20 seconds of each other.  Jordan O'Dea and Catarina Rocha ran from the field in their respective divisions to post impressive individual wins.

 

 

Weymouth is Tough Under Pressure Joe Reardon Nov 12, 2011

The pressure was on the Weymouth girls in Saturday’s Div. 1 EMass Championship race, but Mike Millers’ Wildcats were primed and ready to turn away their competition over the 3.1-mile Franklin Park course.

Christansen on the Attack Joe Reardon Nov 12, 2011

Peabody’s Nick Christansen crossed the finish line after turning aside the Div. 1 EMass field and hardly broke stride as he raced through the chute and out the back. The Tanner standout had good reason to be excited. His time of 15 minutes, 46 seconds was a personal best on the 3.1-mile Franklin Park course and Christansen accomplished what he had set as a goal during the summer months.