Warriors prevail over Melrose cross country

THE MHS boys cross country team had a nice win over Watertown this week. (courtesy photo, Amy William)

But teams take wins over Watertown days later

WAKEFIELD—The Melrose High cross country teams are 1-2 to the season following away meets against Lexington, Wakefield and Watertown.

Melrose shut out Watertown on road this past Tuesday, 15-50. (At press time, the Melrose girls’ team had taken wins over Watertown on the road but no information was available.)

Melrose junior Caleb Barnes, who won the Varsity race at the Ocean State Invitational with a time of 16:03, cruised to victory at the Watertown meet finishing first in 17:31. Second place went to sophomore Adam Caldwell in 18:06.  Sophomore Ben Dugan ran his best race ever for third, finishing just 1 second behind Caldwell.  Close behind was sophomore John Strong in 18:06, followed by junior captain Jonah Tully in 18:15.

Henry McCormack was right in the mix too with his time of 18:26. Jad Jamaleddine wrapped up the top 7 and insured the shutout with a time of 19:10.  Also running very competitive times were Emerson Blanchard, 19:34 and Billy Oldham, 19:47.

Coach Kevin Allison enjoyed the performance. “I think it was a big stepping stone for the team despite it being an easy win. I was very pleased how our top 6-10 runners are pulling each other up to a higher level. We now have 6 runners running a pace under 6 minutes a mile, and if we continue that as a team I’m confident they can get themselves to the state final again this year.”

The teams traveled to Wakefield High on September 19 and the Warriors prevailed on both sides.

The Melrose girls’ team fell just shy of the Warriors by a score of 20-35. Wakefield swept the top four spots but Melrose would earn points taking the 5-9 spots behind the work of Naomi Breay, Darby Thompson, Maizie Frakt, Ella Ugino and Adeline Lawlor. Kensignton Ludlum and Jaya Karamcheti placed 12^th and 13^th followed by Melrose runners Violeta Rechea, Teagan Altman, Mirabel Blanchard, who cracked the top 20.

THE MHS cross country teams will open their season next week, this after picking up wins over Watertown. (courtesy photo, Manjula Karamcheti)

The boys team also fell, 22-39 but it was an impressive finish by Caleb Barnes, who swept the field with a first place finish of 16:03. Wakefield would take the next three spots before Adam Caldwell finished in 5^th. Jonah Tully rounded out the top 10 and runners behind him were John Strong, Henry McCormack, Ben Dugan, Jad Jamaleddine, Matt Sarnowski, Billy Oldham and Emerson Blanchard.

Prior to this meet, Melrose opened on the road against Lexington on Sept. 12 and both teams fell to their large opponents.

On the boys’ side, Melrose fell 23-32, but given the competition against a historically strong Minuteman team, it was an impressive showing, as Melrose’s Caleb Miller placed a strong second with a run time of 16:48.

He was followed by Jonah Tully, John Strong, Adam Caldwell and Henry McCormack, in that order. Rounding out the top twenty was Ben Dugan and Jad Jamaleddine.

The girls’ team also came up short with a score of Lexington 20, Melrose 41. Junior Maizie Frakt had Melrose’s best time of 22:21. Coming in 5^th was Naomi Breay, in the 10^th spot was Ella Ugino, Placing 14^th was Darby Thompson and in 16^th was Kensington Ludlum.

The teams (finally!) have a home opener which is slated for this coming Tuesday, Oct. 3 at Greenwood Park in Stoneham. Come cheer the fleet footed teams on as they fight for a key league win against the Spartans. Shot gun time is 4:15 p.m.