Published in the September 14, 2018 edition
MELROSE—The Melrose Red Raider cross country team is eager to hit the trails and will open their season on Sept. 18 on the road against Lexington.
Last season was something of a rebounding year for Melrose, who finished 1-6 in dual meet play but pulled together a strong end to the season with a 11th place finish out of 34 teams at the Emass Championship.
The team is led by senior captains Jerry Murphy, Gavin Rowe, and Jack Summersby, who are all in great shape and are among the top runners, according to their coach Kevin Allison.
THE RED Raider cross country team returns to action on Sept. 18. (file photo)
Murphy was Melrose’s top runner for much of last season and hopes to match and even improve on his outstanding 2017 season. Junior track standout Charles DeMayo is experiencing cross-country for the first time and has already shown he will be one of the top runners on the team and possibly the league. Also running at a very high level as the season approaches are sophomore Colin Bakey and freshman Mathew Fox.
Coach Allison is excited about the upcoming season. “We have a very deep team this season. With 38 athletes on the team I expect that the team competition will make our Varsity 10 strong. We have plenty of 2nd and 3rd year runners who I feel will make that jump to a true varsity level.”
Some of the veterans returning include seniors Ross Carroll, Kyle Roche, Noah Garnier, Jake Witkowski. In the junior class, coach Allison will be expecting big things from returning juniors Adam Barletta, Ethan Brodeur, Eli Coleman, Tyler Janzen, Liam McCall, Ben Pfeiffer, Andrew Martin, Peter Santos, and Sagar Sachar. Also returning for their second year are sophomores Ethan Ceasar Matt Frawley, Bennett Kraunelis, Matt Stockwell, and Liam Sixsmith.
The team opens up with a 3k invitational in Tewksbury on Saturday the 15 before facing Lexington, a division 1 powerhouse on the 18th.
