Ted Dutkiewicz Invitational
Stanley Park will serve as a showcase for many Western and Central Mass teams.
Saturday’s meet will feature freshmen, Junior Varsity, and Varsity races. The Varsity races will kick off at 11AM with the Boys followed by the Girls.
Boy’s Preview
Last year’s champions Frontier Regional return after winning this meet with 66 points last fall. The RedHawks are poised to do it again, but they’ll face challenges from Lenox Memorial and West Springfield, who bring back strong teams from last season’s race.
Frontiers Even Hedlund is poised to defend his crown from last season. After winning this race as a sophomore in 16:27, he went on to finish third at the Division 3B race and sixth at the Meet of Champions. This past spring he emerged as one of the state’s best in the mile, running 4:19. How fast will he go on the quick Stanley Park course? His PR of 15:47 could be in the cards.
Benjamin Harwood of Lenox Memorial also returns after finishing runner up last season in 16:33. He wasn’t far behind the rest of the season, finishing eighth at the Meet of Champions.
Girls Preview
Hampshire Regional brings back their entire team that won this meet last year in an impressive 38 points. They’ll be challenged once again by Minnechaug Regional. Last year Minnechaug took two of the first three positions, but it was Hampshire’s depth that prevailed.
Maggie Joyce of Minnechaug is the top returner after finishing runner up last season in 19:56. She’s coming off a strong season where she was eighth at the Division 2B race and 18th at the Meet of Champions. She’ll have help from teammate Catherine Dickson who was third last season. They’ll look to hold off Hampshire’s Kathleen Barry who was fourth and went on to finish 13th at the Meet of Champions.
