Warriors turn in good performances in final race of season
ALEC RODGERS, a senior, placed 55th overall in a time of 16:52.00 in the Div. 2 race at the All-State Meet on Saturday at Stanley Park in Westfield. The Warriors qualified as a team and placed ninth overall.
Published in the November 23, 2015 edition.
WESTFIELD — On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Western Massachusetts, the Wakefield Memorial High boys’ cross country team once again ran as a tight group that was the lowest margin in the meet with 25 seconds from the first to fifth scores and just as impressive margin of 33 seconds from the first to seventh runner.
That depth helped the Warriors to a ninth place finish in the small school division (Div. 2) at the All-State Meet at Stanley Park in Westfield with 226 points.
A total of 19 teams competed for the title with 183 runners. Marblehead won the meet with 51 points while league rival Melrose came in second with 143 points
Junior Adam Roberto (16:51.18) and senior Alec Rodgers (16:52.00) led the way in 52nd and 55th place overall.
Junior Ryan Sullivan (17:02.21) and sophomore Matt Greatorex (17:02.91) were not far behind in 65th and 68th place.
Tommy Lucey, a sophomore, clocked in at 17:16.34 and placed 87th to close out the scoring for the Warriors.
Seniors Richie Custodio (17:20.14) and Chris Skeldon (17:23.70) were also very close and placed 94th and 104th overall.
“We were shooting for a better placing but the boys did run well and ninth place is a positive outcome,” said Coach Perry Pappas. “They fought hard and were only 31 points from a fourth place finish. I’m very proud of their efforts this weekend. We can certainly build off of this performance for next year.”
According to Pappas, the boys’ team will finish ranked ninth in the small school Massachusetts ranking and the JV team finish as the number one ranked JV team thanks to its convincing wins at two major invitationals this season.
Also Wakefield had four Middlesex League Freedom division All-Stars named. They are junior Adam Roberto, senior Rich Custodio, junior Ryan Sullivan and sophomore Matt Greatorex.
