SENIORS PREVAILED during Melrose’s last home dual meet of the season. From left to right: Matt Sarnoski, Billy Oldham, Giancarlo Martinis-Torres, Frost Drogan, Grady Kamosa, Emerson Blanchard, Andrew Bancu, Aiden Manning, Kush Karamcheti, Jonah Tully, Jad Jamaleddine, Harrison Brown and Caleb Barnes. (courtesy photo)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High cross-country teams are gearing up for their appearance at the Div. 2A State Finals this weekend in Devins, MA. And they are coming off a Senior Night celebration, an appearance at the Middlesex League meet, along with the Frank Mooney Invitational over the weekend.
Their last meet against Wakefield on Oct. 22 was the perfect celebration for their seniors Matt Sarnoski, Billy Oldham, Giancarlo Martinis-Torres, Frost Drogan, Grady Kamosa, Emerson Blanchard, Andrew Bancu, Aiden Manning, Kush Karamcheti, Jonah Tully, Jad Jamaleddine, Harrison Brown and Caleb Barnes. That includes their captains, Caleb Barnes, Jonah Tully, and Andre Bancu. “They’ve led our team nicely this season,” says Melrose head coach Alex DeRosa.
On Monday, Oct. 28 both teams took part in 2024 Middlesex League Meet held at Burlington High.
On the boy’s side, Caleb Barnes had a thrilling race and placed second, earning silver for Melrose.
“He spent the entire race in the front pack and held steady as his competitors fell off one by one,” reports DeRosa. “In the final stretch he was bested by mere inches at the line in a head-to-head sprint against a Winchester rival, Nick Walker, who he had beaten by a minute earlier in the season in a dual meet. It was hugely entertaining to watch. Caleb’s performance was gutsy and passionate. He’s in great shape for States and is expected to be in top contention.”
Those following him included, in order, John Strong, Jad Jamaleddine, Ben Dugan, Henry McCormack and Billy Oldham. Melrose placed 6th overall.
On the girls’ side, Melrose cracked the top 50 several times, and then some. Placing first at the league meet for Melrose was Addy Lawlor, 25th overall, with teammate Naomi Breay right behind her at 27th. Senior Maizie Frakt was 32nd overall and Ella Ugino 43rd. Following them in order were Kensington Ludlum, Violeta Rechea and Ava Piccone.
The girls’ varsity also team competed at the Frank Mooney Invitational last weekend, with just the boy’s junior varsity team traveling for the event.
It was a terrific event for the girls team who enjoyed a first place finish in the sophomore race by Reilly Powell, a statement win by the young fleet footed sprinter. In that race she was followed by Abigail Schad, Eleanor Marston, Helen Morash.
THE GIRLS Cross Country team is anxiously awaiting their appearance at the Div. 2A State Finals this weekend. (courtesy photo)
In the boys’ junior varsity race, Melrose earned four medals and collected personal bests.
Melrose’s Junior/Senior race also saw several personal bests, including Billy Oldham who medaled with a 5k time of 17:10, and Anderson Ji, who enjoyed his first sub-18 performance (17:55). Senior Emerson Blanchard also ran his personal best at 18:08, as did Giancarlo Martinis-Torres at 19:56. Kush Karamcheti in his senior farewell ran 21:38, and Junior Lam Pham achieved his personal best with a 21:51. Frost Drogan rounded out the Melrose contingent with a personal best of 23:06.
Three of their freshmen earned hardware by finishing in the top 30 in their 3k race: Luke McAndrew finished 9th in 11:01, Elliot Barber 24th in 11:14, and Caleb Sanna 28th in 11:27. Joey Coughlin had a strong showing with a time of 11:44, and Beau Merrill rounded off the freshmen with a respectable 15:27.
“Our JV guys had stunning performances across the board, with medals and personal bests,” says DeRosa. “Our sophomore, Bennet McGravey VanLauwe, had a breakout personal best in the 5k, with a time of 21:45.”
It was also a good day for John Strong the only varsity runner who competed on Saturday, after illness sidelined him for several weeks. He stunned his coaches and teammates by medaling with a 12th place finish and a blistering time of 16:56.
“With that encouraging performance, we are very hopeful for a strong team showing at Divisionals, where we expect to qualify for States by finishing in the top 7 teams.”
Stayed tuned to see how both teams do this weekend.
