The grounds of the Wrentham Developmental Center, which will host next weekend’s Frank Mooney Invitational, was the site for five league championships on Saturday. The results of some of those competitions made one thing clear – several of our top athletes appear to be a peak shape with the upcoming divisional state championships and the Meet of Champions just a few weeks away.
The Bay State Conference Championships never falls short on producing quality performances this time of year. The BSCC certainly lived up to its history this weekend on both the boys’ and girls’ side. Needham’s Greta Hammer clocked a state best and the No. 3 all-time at Wrentham with a sizzling 17 minutes, 31.97 seconds for the five-kilometer course. The Rockets’ junior was nearly 30 seconds ahead of her closest rival in a quality field that had four under 18:20 and a dozen breaking 19 minutes! In the team competition, four teams ranked among the top seven in the recent MSTCA X-C Poll were separated by just five points will Wellesley (No. 6) winning the crown with 63 points. Finishing with 65 points each in second and third, respectively, were Needham (No. 3) and Weymouth (No. 1). Newton North (No. 7) was fourth with 68 points.
Brookline, which moved up to No. 1 in the boys’ poll, certainly provided validity in the coaches’ choice. The Warriors had four under 16 minutes at Bay State and scored just 29 points to bring home the hardware. Natick, ranked No. 3 in the poll. was second with a low 45 points. Brookline’s Altamo Aschkensy won the race in 15:25.07. He was followed by Natick’s John Bianchi (second, 15:27.65) and a trio of his teammates – Lysander Duffield (third, 15:34.5), Liam Hartman (fourth, 15:38.57) and Theo Kessler (fifth, 15:53.46). The No. 5 runner for the Warriors was Sam Haber, who was 18th in 16:29.83. That’s an impressive crew on a legit 5K.
Plymouth North’s Macey Shriner came close to sub-18 in a dominating win at the Patriot League Championships. Shriner was far ahead of the field by the time she crossed the finish line, taking the title in 18:04.30. Hingham’s Charlotte Lawther was second at 18:51.30.
Marshfield’s Graham Heinrich, who was second at last week’s Catholic Memorial Invitational, won the boys’ race. Heinrich outdistanced teammate Matt McCabb by nearly 30 seconds with his time of 15:36.37. McCabb finished at 16:04.01. Heinrich’s effort was about 13 seconds quicker than what he ran at last month’s Frank Kelley Invitational in Wrentham where he was sixth overall in 15:49.1.
Newburyport’s Michael Mohoric, who won the Silver race at Catholic Memorial, kept up the momentum at the Cape Ann League Championships. He was a victor once again, touring the 3.1-mile layout in 15:41.71. Grace Rich of Hamilton Wenham was the girls’ winner with a time of 18:38.53. The team scores were nearly identical with Hamilton Wenham defeating Newburyport, 22-57, for the girls’ crown and topping the Clippers again in the boys’ race with a 23-62 score.
You can’t ignore Attleboro’s Emilia Smith when talking about Division 1 in the upcoming championship meets. Smith captured the Hockomock League Championships with an all-time best of 17:59.64. She was 12th overall at the MOC last year. Moving forward, this should provide a huge confidence-booster for the Bombardier senior. Sharon’s Alex Blumen and North Attleboro’s Anthony Malakidis were separated by less than two seconds at the finish in the boys’ race with Blumen timed in 15:48 for first and Malakidis taking runner-up honors in 15:49.9.
***
On Tuesday at Wrentham, Boston College High teammates Shamus Larnard and Greg McGrath were neck-and-neck at the Catholic Conference Championships with times of 15:16.53 and 15:16.95, respectively, for their 1-2 finish.
In all, nine league championships were held at Wrentham this week and a total of 30 races. Kudos to all the officials for making this happen.
