16. Billerica
Billerica may be the most interesting team in the Bay State. They return the second fastest miler in the state and one of the fastest freshmen in the country in Shane Leslie and Mason Niles. Technically neither is their top XC returnee based off time.
Sahil Gandhi had that honor last year with his 16:08 from The Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational. He had a strong outdoor campaign, running 4:29 and 9:39, but it will be hard to hold off Niles. As a freshmen last season, he was Billerica’s top finisher at the Meet of Champions and won the Division 1C race in an impressive 16:19 on the challenging Northfield Mountain course. After running a blistering 4:17 outdoors, expect a time in the mid to low 15s.
The question mark is Leslie who comes back with a 17:01 PR. Based off his track success, 4:12 Mile PR, he should be able to lower that quite a bit which would give them one of the best 1,2,3 punches in the state. Also look for junior Colin Ward to have an impact. After running 19:22 during the XC season, he ran 10:02 for two miles outdoors. Expect him to him to bolster their roster.
11 Sahil Gandhi 16:08
12 Shane Leslie 17:01
10 Mason Niles 16:19
11 Christopher Panzeri 17:22
10 Ascot Drozdov-Armendia 17:41
2 Responses
Cullen Hagan does a fantastic job with this program. Expect them to be a lot higher in the only poll that matters – MOC placing.
Thanks for the insight. They’re one of the teams I’m most excited to see this fall. Would have placed them higher but I didn’t want to speculate too much off of track times.