The Highlights of the 2015 Cross Country Season

It was certainly another excellent year of cross country action all throughout the state of Massachusetts. We saw legends cement their names in the record books and new stars rise up to claim a spot at the table. Storied programs went head-to-head, while other teams came together to try and buck the trend. There were many fantastic races, meets, and performances this fall, making a complete recap of the year a difficult task. So we'll do our best, as we break down the top 10 highlights in the 2015 Massachusetts cross country season!



 

10. Liam Sullivan of Northampton Wins the Twilight Invitational

It's one of the most magical meets of the year and that's in large part due to it being one of just a few meets in the country that takes place at night. This year's edition of the Twilight Invitational certainly lived up to expectation and hundreds of runners flocked to Barnstable in search of fast times. This was clearly evident in the boys D1 race, where we had a handful of the state's best toeing the line, all going after a big-time victory. Though he had been relatively quiet for the first few weeks of the fall leading up the Twilight Meet due to illness, Liam Sullivan wasn't deterred in the slightest about challenging for a win. Dictating the pace for a majority of race, Sullivan made sure it was fast and in the end he was the one able to handle it. The Northampton senior emerged victorious in a very fast time of 15:16--38 seconds faster than he had run the previous year. This significant victory set the tone for the rest of Sullivan's season, as he would eventually go on to win western Mass. champs and finish in a strong 3rd place at the All-State Meet.



 

9. Perfect Sweep for Sarah Edwards of Bellingham

It would be hard to ask for a better conclusion to your high school cross country career, as Sarah Edwards was pretty much lights-out in almost every race she suited up for this fall. A season that started with a strong 18:16, runner-up finish at Bay State would eventually blossom into four straight victories in the following weeks. The two biggest victories were undoubtedly her comfortable 18:42 win in the D5 race at Wrentham and the other coming a week later at All-States. Though unlike her victory at Eastern Mass. Champs, Edwards was certainly in a difficult spot with about kilometer to go in the D2 race. Despite being in a hole with a half mile to go, Edwards flipped the switch and blew the doors off her D2 competitors to win All-States in 18:12--10 seconds ahead of 2nd place.


 

8. Holyoke Boys win D1 Western Mass. Championship

If you're familiar with the western Mass. running scene, you know that every year it's typically a battle of supremacy between Northampton and Amherst. In the last ten years, Amherst has won five DI team titles, Northampton has won two titles, Ludlow won in 2006 and 2009, and Westfield got the title in 2012. The last time Holyoke High School won a Western Mass. Champs title? Never. Since the first race went of in 1963, the Purple Knights have not once lifted up that big Massachusetts-shaped trophy. Though after finishing 3rd last year and returning five of their top seven, the pieces were definitely there for a shot at the title. Well, on a cold, windy day in mid-November, Holyoke put four in the top 10 and made history. Despite a distant #5 man, Holyoke racked up 60 points and held off Amherst in 2nd with 68 and Northampton, who finished 3rd with 74 points. What does 2016 look like for the Purple Knights of Holyoke? Well they will once again return five of their top seven, so could we possibly see title #2.


 

7. The Lady Shamrocks of Bishop Feehan make it Eleven Straight

Do you remember the year 2002? The ever popular pump-up song, "Lose Yourself" by Eminem, was released, the first series of American Idol began and the average cost of gas was $1.61. It's also the year that the young ladies from Bishop Feehan began their unprecedented run at eastern Mass. D3 team titles. Since that November day at Franklin Park, Feehan has won 13 out of the last 14 team titles and since 2005 it has been eleven straight. To think that most girls on the current Feehan team weren't over the age of five when the era of victory began means all they have known since being at Feehan is winning.  If only we could fast forward to next fall and see if it's another banner year for Bishop Feehan!



 

6. Nick Steele of Bromfield Overcomes Illness and Fights Back to the Top

It was supposed to be his year. The Bromfield senior was entering his final fall after a junior year that saw him claim victory in the D2 race at Central Mass. champs, finish 4th at All-States, and put up many big performances on the track. Though life doesn't always work out the way you want it to and you face a few road bumps from time to time. Unfortunately for Nick Steele, life would throw him a little curveball this fall when he got sidelined with illness for a large chunk of the season. After a few sub-par performances in September, the Bromfield runner didn't race for all of October and it looked like his season was over. Though as Central Mass. Champs rolled around, we saw his name listed on the Bromfield roster. Giving that Steele had missed a majority of the season, I'm sure many didn't think much of the defending champion. Though once the gun went off and the race got underway, Nick Steele was right in the thick of the action. He latched onto race leader Zach Rolfe of Parker Charter and ran stride-for-stride with him for a majority of the race. In the end Rolfe won in 15:14, but Steele put up a fantastic effort and got 2nd in 15:16. A week later, Steele toed the line at All-States and eventually finished in a very respectable 8th place overall in the D2 race. Obviously things didn't go as expected for Steele, but he could have easily called it quits and began his training for the indoor season. Steele, however, chose the tougher path and put himself out there despite not being at 100%. This is an especially tough thing to and we're looking forward to see what he accomplishes on the track.


 

5. Best Duo in the State - Clare Martin and Rebecca Grusby of Newton South

These two young ladies were certainly the best 1-2 punch in all of Massachusetts this fall season. Prior to this year, Clare Martin was floating under the radar with her 22nd-place finish at Eastern Mass Champs and a 70th-place finish at Footlocker Regionals. Though we did get a good glimpse at her speed when she won the 800 at Outdoor All-States last spring. Meanwhile, Rebecca Grusby was a prominent force in 2014 and we saw big performances from her at eastern Mass, All-States, and Footlocker. Well Grusby must have taken Martin under her wing this summer, as the two were nearly inseparable all fall. At their first real test, the Newton South duo went 2nd and 4th at Twilight Invite and both were under 17:45. A few weeks later at Eastern Mass. Champs, Martin would take the W in 18:16 and Grusby was runner-up in 18:25. Once again this deadly duo would rise to the occasion at All-States and we would see them go 4th & 5th in 17:45 and 17:49. At the final race of the year, Grusby and Martin headed down to the Bronx to take on the regions best at Footlocker Northeast. Grusby led the way on this occasion and put up a fantastic 15th-place finish in 18:41, while Martin greatly improved on her previous regional finish and took 25th in 18:54. Grusby will certainly be missed next fall, but we expect Martin to keep the light burning bright.


 

4. Thomas D'Anieri of Wellesley Saves the Best for Last!

D'Anieri's post-All-State race emotions tell it all. After a sophomore season in which he finished 5th at Eastern State Champs and then 5th at All-States, the Wellesley runner was expecting a successful junior fall. Though Thomas will be the first to tell you that last year's cross country season was a bitter disappointment, as he took 4th at Eastern State Champs and 17th at All-States as a junior. Despite the sub-par fall, D'Anieri stepped onto the track ready to throw down. By the end of spring, he racked up excellent PRs of 4:19 and 9:22. Now fast forward to the final weeks of racing in November and D'Anieri knew that it was now or never. At Wrentham, Thomas finally secured a victory in the D2race and put up the second-fastest time of the day with his 15:42. This certainly made him a very credible threat for All-States, but the heavy favorite and undefeated Marcelo Rocha of Peabody still stood in his way. As the race went off in Stanley Park, all the expected top players were at the front and ready to duke it out in the back woods. Once the race finally emerged from the woods loop, D'Anieri appeared to have comfortably dropped the entire lead pack. No one would be able to catch the Wellesley runner and he went on to win All-States by over ten seconds with his time of 15:16. This fantastic fall will serve to push this already talented runner to even greater heights during the upcoming track seasons.




3. Deokar, Rocha, and Keklak Qualify for Footlocker Nationals / Abigail Long Heads to Portland for NXN  

In 2013, no Massachusetts runners qualified for Footlocker and we saw just two individuals (Christian Stafford & Abigail Mcnulty) punch tickets to NXN. Last year, Erin Dietz was the only MA representative on the national stage, as she finished 5th at Footlocker Northeast Regionals. This year we had a good upswing and will have four individuals competing at the two national meets. At Van Cortlandt Park last Saturday, some of the very best runners in the Northeast assembled on a tightly-packed starting line in hopes of earning a ticket to race at Footlocker Nationals in San Diego. It wasn't going to be an easy task, as we saw the leaders in the Boy's Championship race come through the first mile right around 4:40. Despite the very fast pace, Viraj Deokar of Middlesex and Marcelo Rocha of Peabody remained composed in the lead pack. Through the cow paths and back hills, these two never fell out of the top 10 qualifying spots. Deokar had a great finish to take 6th overall in 15:30, while Rocha hung on and took 10th in 15:35. On the girl's side, Ariel Keklak was also looking to extend her final cross country season a few weeks. Playing it safe in the early stages, Keklak was hovering in the low teens and just off the lead pack. Though she is a veteran competitor and worked her way up nicely through the back hills. Once the race came over the bridge and into the long homestretch, Keklak was secure and would cross the line in 7th place with a time of 17:52. This was undoubtedly a much sweeter day for Keklak than in 2014, when she ran 18:23 and missed qualifying for the big dance by one spot.

 

About 65 miles due north of Van Cortlandt, Abigail Long of Bishop Feehan was also on a quest for a ticket out west. The Lady Shamrocks have always performed well throughout the years at NXN Northeast and Long was certainly capable of keeping the rich tradition alive. Being cautious on the very formidable Bowdoin park course, Long sat between 15th and 20th for the first half. Though once she reached the highest point of the course at about exactly halfway, Abigail began to roll and pick off her competitors. In the end, Abigail took 7th overall in 18:44, grabbing the 4th spot out of five individual qualifier spots. We will see Long will be back in action this weekend in Portland for the NXN Championships, while our MA Footlocker Qualifiers will be racing in San Diego on December 12th.




2. The Boys of Lowell Reign Supreme

At the beginning of this fall, I'm sure there were quite a few fans out there that thought the Lowell Red Raiders might fall and not defend their crowns. They had lost their #1 runner (Larry Carney), were in few extremely close scraps with CR&L last season, and sometimes all good things must come to an end. Though when you've been brought up in a culture of winning and that's all you know, it's very a hard thing to let go. It's also an incredible motivator, as you don't want to let down teammates and alumni by being "that team" which ended the historic run. All fall, this motivation, grit, and determination was clearly evident in every Lowell runner from the #1 to the #14 guy. And it was showcased on a cold, blustery day at Wrentham when the quartet of Anthony Rodriguez, Chris Gendron, Chris Polanco, and Tommy Abraham went 3-4-6-7. Running as the 5th man would be Sean Bryan, finishing in 20th place and giving the Lowell Red Raiders a strong team spread of 43 seconds. But perhaps even more impressive was their team score of 40 points. To put that in perspective, only one other team in the last 35 years has had a lower team score at Eastern Mass. Champs: Brookline in 2007 with their 36 point victory. Making their way to starting line in Westfield a week later, Lowell was out to capture their third All-State title in the last four years (they were 2nd in 2013). It wouldn't be an easy task, as they would be going up their biggest challengers of the year and #2 seed-St. John's. Though once the gun went off, it was business as usual for Lowell and, like a well oiled machine, the formidable quartet went 6-9-13-19 and Sean Bryan closed it out again with his 41st-place finish. There would be no uncertainty or frantic calculations to see if they won. Lowell had four guys in before St. John's #1 and finished the day with another impressive 1-5 spread of 41 seconds. At the end of the day, they headed back to Lowell with 64 points and another Massachusetts All-State trophy to put on the mantle. 

Here is a breakdown of the last five years for the Lowell Red Raiders at Eastern Mass. Champs and All-States:

Eastern Mass. Champs

All-States

2015

1st

1st

2014

1st

1st

2013

1st

2nd

2012

1st

1st

2011

2nd

2nd

2010

1st

2nd






1st. Keklak vs. Cullen and the Battle for Individual and Team Supremacy

She had been running exceptionally well all fall and we saw some big early performances at Manhattan and the Twilight Invitational. Plus, Ariel Keklak was the defending D2 Eastern States Champ and was runner-up at All-States in 2014. So we certainly felt that going into this year's Eastern Mass. Championship race, she would come out on top and lead her #1 Lincoln-Sudbury squad to victory over #2 Needham. Clearly, our prediction did not sit well with Margie Cullen of Needham. The senior Rocket was also having a strong fall and was stride-for-stride with Cullen on the windy flats of Wrentham. Entering the final kilometer, Cullen knew she would have to make a move to break Keklak to avoid becoming a victim of her powerful mid-distance kick. Cullen's decisive move in the final minutes proved to seal the deal--she won in 17:30, while Keklak took 2nd in 17:34. Despite Keklak's 2nd-place finish, the Lady Warriors of Lincoln-Sudbury still overpowered Needham with their 77 points to the Lady Rockets' 91 points. Thankfully, though, we were treated to another fantastic match-up a week later at the All-State Meet in Westfield. Once again, Cullen and Keklak were out front and were also joined by their fellow D2 foe, Julia Curtin of Beverly. As this trio came out of the woods and made their charge for home, Curtin made a bid for victory and Keklak was the only one able to respond. The Lincoln-Sudbury senior eventually won in17:25, just holding off Curtin, who took 2nd in 17:26. Cullen still had herself a very strong race and finished 3rd in 17:33. Despite falling short of individual glory, Cullen still did enough to lead the Lady Rockets to their third-straight All-State title, as it was a narrow one-point (116-117) team victory over their rivals from Lincoln-Sudbury. Though they only met head-to-head twice this fall, Cullen and Keklak along with their squads, provided some of the best excitement we had all fall.