Edged out for top spot on tiebreaker against Hopedale
THE WMHS boys’ cross country team had a good showing at all levels of the Twilight Invitational meet on Saturday in Falmouth. The varsity team took second overall and scored 69 points.
Published in the October 18, 2016 edition.
FALMOUTH — The Wakefield Memorial High boys’ cross country team made its way over the Sagamore Bridge on Saturday afternoon to compete in the McIntyre Twilight Invitational in Falmouth.
Over 2,500 individuals and 113 teams made for an energetic atmosphere as the JV, freshman, sophomore and varsity races went into the night with the runners competing under the lights for the 3.1 mile distance over three loops on the Cape Cod Fairgrounds.
The boys didn’t fear Hopedale after falling to it a few weeks ago at the Frank Kelley Invitational in Wrentham. This time around the Warriors were out to prove they can compete with the best team in the Massachusetts small school rankings.
As the Div. 2 varsity race unfolded the Warriors were a heavy presence up front as they placed four runners in the top 21 and all five scores in the top 39. Their sixth and seventh runners also placed in the top 60 out of 260 runners.
The end result was a second place finish after a tie of 69 points to 69 points against Hopedale. The tiebreaker goes to the faster sixth runner on each team. Hopedale had the depth to walk away with the victory as its sixth man placed higher than Wakefield’s.
Junior Matt Greatorex led the team with a stellar performance that should make him a familiar name come the postseason. He placed second to Hopedale’s Brendan Hall who was only two seconds ahead with a 15:55. Greatorex ran a personal best time of 15:57.
Adam Roberto, a senior captain, was also impressive finishing in the top 10 with a personal best time of 16:15.
Senior captain Ryan Sullivan and senior Nick McGee worked well together pushing each other to fantastic finishes of 20th and 21st. Both runners also ran personal bests of 16:26 and 16:28.
Tommy Lucey, a junior, showed he is one of the best fifth man in the state running a time of 16:41. Lucey played 30th.
Riley Brackett, a junior, placed 48th with a time of 17:14 and Jack Stevens, a senior captain, was 53rd in 17:21.
In the Div. 2 JV race the boys took second place out of 19 scored teams.
Senior Mike Frezza placed sixth with a time of 17:27, junior Roberto Shaw was 12th in 18:07, senior Justin McGonagle was 16th in 18:20, junior Ryan Smith was 25th in 18:34, junior David Lee was 61st in 19:28, senior Shahnawaz Anwar placed 62nd in 19:30, junior Dominick Dennis took 65th in 19:34, junior Max Hinchey placed 72nd in 19:41, senior captain James Connors secured 95th in 20:07 and senior Cal Sylvia was 170th in 22:34.
In the sophomore combined division race the boys placed 10th out of 25 scored teams.
Rohan Singhvi led the way for the Warriors finishing 13th in 17:10. Casey Brackett was 56th in 18:11, Derrick Scheeler was 64th in 18:19, Derryn Langlois was 93rd in 18:46, Chris Beaudoin took 116th in 19:19, Thomas Harrington came in 133rd in 19:35, and Sam Simpson placed 211th in 21:50.
The freshmen were also able to get some valuable experience in a big invitational . They placed fifth out of 28 teams running 2.1 miles in the combined division meet.
Matt Roberto ran a great race placing ninth in 11:38. Tanner Jellison placed 21st in 11:52, David Root took 25th in 11:58, Jack Callahan secured 94th in 12:59, Jack Palmer came in 202nd in 14:13 and Andrew Russell placed 246th in 15:38.
The Warriors run today in a dual meet against Burlington which begins at 3:30 p.m. at Burlington High School.
