Boy harriers hope numbers add up to more success

By JIM SOUTHMAYD

WAKEFIELD — The numbers continue to grow for the Wakefield Memorial High boys’ cross country team with the success of the program each fall. That’s what winning three consecutive Middlesex League Freedom division titles has done for the Warriors as they have the largest group yet for Head Coach Perry Pappas’ third year.
Wakefield has 36 athletes out for the squad with the concentration of runners being in the junior and sophomore classes. The Warriors have just four seniors on this year’s roster. They also have nine freshmen out for the team.
Finding the right combination for the varsity lineup before Wakefield’s season opener is the main goal for Pappas and the Warriors. Despite the graduation of standouts Aaron Lucci, Chris McNall and Pat Scheeler, Wakefield has hopes of the same kind of success it’s had in the past. Also, the Warriors would also like to step up and accomplish big things at the state level.
“We’ll see what happens when we go head to head against our competition. I think we will be stronger team,” said Pappas. “We are still working to find that stand out guy. The boys have put a lot of work in.
“We want to continue the success of the program,” added Pappas. “We’ve won the league title the past three years are we are shooting for a fourth straight Middlesex League championship. It will be a challenge. Melrose had some good, young distance runners and Burlington was strong in distance. It will come down to which team worked harder over the summer season.”
The four seniors on the team are also the captains. They are Jackson Gallagher, Jared Matos, Ed Massabni and Nick Hill. Gallagher was Wakefield’s number two runner last season. But he is returning from an injury. Massabni, Matos and Hill are all experienced runners. All four are trying to make the varsity lineup as well.
Gallagher is a returning M.L. Freedom division all-star as well.
The Warriors have 10 juniors and 13 sophomores on the roster with many of them returning runners.
The returning juniors include Rich Custodio, Alec Rodgers, Jeremy Keegan, Alex Guerriero, Chris Skeldon, Joe Boudreau, Adam D’Ambrosio, Steven Racamato and Tyler Whipple. Rodgers is a returning M.L. Freedom division all-star.
The first-year junior is Joe Picano.
The returning sophomores include Anwar Shahnawaz, Ty Collins, James Connors, Matt Finn, Mike Frezza, Brian Lomasney, Justin McGonagle, Jack Stevens, Ryan Sullivan and Cal Sylvia.
There are also three new sophomores which include Jackson Kehoe, Sam Veerman and John Stanfield. They are all capable of making a big impact.
There are nine freshmen out for the squad. Pappas feels that this is one of his best freshman classes ever. The ninth graders are Chris Bossi, Riley Brackett, Nolan Collins, Matt Greatorex, David Lee, Tommy Lucey, Andre Massabni, Sam Morey and Robert Shaw.
“They ran a lot of miles this summer,” said Pappas. “They ran over 300 miles to 400 miles.”
While winning a fourth straight M.L. Freedom division title is one of the goals, Wakefield would also like to have a strong showing in the state meets in November as well.
“We want to make it to the all-state meet. We came up short late last year,” said Pappas. “The juniors and sophomores have maintained the strong numbers. That’s a good sign that they enjoy what they are doing and have worked hard.”
The All-State meet will be run at Franklin Park in Boston for the first time since 2011, the last time the Warriors qualified to compete in the meet as a team. The division meet will still be run at the Wrentham Developmental Center in Wrentham.
The Warriors will also compete in the Frank Kelley Invitational meet on Saturday, Sept. 27. There will be races for the varsity, JV and freshman runners. Wakefield will also run in the Bay State Invitational which will be held at Franklin Park on Saturday, Oct. 4.
First up, however, is a crossover meet against Woburn, a team from the M.L. Liberty division. The season opener is Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 3:45 p.m. at the Beasley Course.
Wakefield’s second meet is against defending M.L. Liberty division champion Lexington on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 3:45 p.m. at Lexington High School before it competes against the five M.L. Freedom division foes.