The fastest returner overall from last year’s Meet of Champions is Silas Gartner. He won the Division 2 race by ten seconds finishing in 15:42. He also won every race he entered except for three, and two of those were regional and national meets.
Gartner ran his personal record for 5K of 15:30 at the Frank Kelly invitational where he finished first in the Championship Boys Race. His only regular season loss came at the Bob Glennon Twilight Invite where he finished third. After winning the Division 2B race he would avenge his only regular season loss at the Meet of Champions by defeating eventual Two-Mile State Champ Nate Assa.
After all that, what could the Falmouth standout do to top that this season? Gartner is one of the few harriers from the Bay Sate that may already have visions beyond the Meet of Champs. After finishing tenth at the Foot Locker Northeast Championships, Gartner booked himself a ticket to the National Championships at Balboa Park in San Diego.
As the only returning qualifier from the Bay State, he was most likely thrown a curveball when it was announced that Foot Locker would no longer be moving forward with their race. Still, Gartner should look to assert himself on the national scene and chase All American Status. That being said, with no Foot Locker, that will drive up the competition at Nike Cross Nationals and the New Balance Running Lane Championships.
Gartner is more than up to the task though. This spring he demonstrated his range at the BSR Elite Mile running a blazing 4:12. He also enters his senior season with a 9:07 Two Mile PR. Given his success on the regional and national scene, it will be interesting to see when Gartner debuts this season. Will we see him chase a sub 15 clocking on one of the faster courses in the region? Maybe. Based off last season, our guess is he’ll be focused on November and December.
