The Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational always lives up to the hype so, for the most part, expect the expected on Friday and Saturday at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds.
Here’s a few things that we dug up about the two-day event that should strike some interest.
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The numbers don’t lie
In the history of the Twilight Invitational, most of the season bests by any runner that has competed at this meet, is done right on the Cape Cod Fairgrounds. With the course, the nighttime atmosphere and the competition, it’s inevitable. Want a little proof. Here’s what we conjured up from last year’s two-day competition. In all the 5K races (JV, sophomore, varsity), 432 runners averaged six minutes per mile or faster in the boys’ competitions. Breaking that down further on the varsity level, the Small Schools had 77, the Medium Schools had 118 and the Large Schools had 142. Twenty-six harriers went under 16 minutes for the 5K distance. On the girls’ side, 227 averaged seven-minute miles. Small Schools saw 57 run that fast, Medium Schools were at 65 and Large Schools had 51. In all, 21 dipped under 19 minutes on the 3.1-mile course.
With the weather conditions expected to be ideal this weekend with the chances of precipitation at a minimum, we’re expecting similar type numbers like this at Twilight 2023.
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Greater Lowell Tech’s Devin Moreau is among the top runners competing on Friday when the Small and Medium Schools hit the Fairgrounds. Moreau will be looking for trifecta of sorts. The GLT senior has been on a roll the last few weeks with victories at the Frank Kelley Invitational in Wrentham on Sept. 30 and last week at the Bay State Invitational. In both meets, he ran about five-minute pace, clocking 15:27.7 at Kelley and 15:32.7 at Bay State.
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Several top teams have entered this weekend’s meet, most that rank high in the recent BSR/HOKA Power Rankings. The Division 1 boys will be prevalent on Saturday when the Large Schools match up. Brookline, Westford Academy, Cambridge Rindge & Latin and Natick, who rank 1-4-5-6, are expected to compete. Brookline is coming off a victory at Bay State. Westford Academy has top runners Paul Bergeron and Jack Graffeo, who rank No. 1 and No. 3 in the state right now.
Top-ranked Oliver Ames as well as Weymouth (No. 6) and Algonquin (No. 10) represent Div. 1 girls.
