The Catholic Conference Championships did not disappoint. It gave us one of the best team battles of the season and an all-time great individual performance.
Boston College High School Senior Greg McGrath etched his name alongside some of the Bay State’s All-Time greats. He took the the win in an astounding 14:43.5. That puts him #2 all time at Wrentham. He’s just a few ticks ahead of Two Mile State record holder Paul Bergeron of Westford Academy at 14:43.8, and now trails only recent Paul Short Winner, Sam Burgess of Framingham at 14:38.9. The crazy thing is he’ll have another go at Wrentham in a couple weeks at the D1A Championships. Now before we get too far ahead, a lot of things go into a Course Record. Weather and course conditions play a huge role, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed we get to see a follow up performance. Still, we don’t see sub 15 performances here in the Bay State often. Massachusetts isn’t known for its blazing fast courses like some other regions, so anytime we get a fast time like that, we should take a moment to celebrate it.
As we mentioned in our power rankings, this was a massive team battle between our #5 BC High and #6 Saint John’s Prep. Coming off their major performance at Manhattan, Saint John’s Prep had a lot to prove after losing their dual meet to BC High earlier this season. Things didn’t look good at first, with Colin Kurtz following McGrath into second place, with a PR of 15:21.
Then Saint John’s Prep did what they’ve done all season and took the next four spots. John McIntosh finished third in a PR of 15:26. Then Liam Mahoney, Henry McDonnell, and Leo Seltenrich all ran 15:47-15:48. Prep’s fifth runner, Liam Callahan was eleventh overall in 16:06. They didn’t stop there, and put another three runners in the top 15, with Sam Valentine, Hunter Opal, Mateo DeOrio.
Saint John’s Prep took the win, 29-37, buoyed by their depth. BC High ended with four runners in the top 10. Joseph Hayes and Theo Weiss both ran PRS, with 15:55 and 16:02. Logan Barry was 20th overall for BC High in a PR of 16:44.
So what does this mean for the rest of the state? Concord-Carlisle is officially on notice. Based off time, Saint John’s Prep and BC High are now 1-2 in the state. Now this isn’t exact science. Concord-Carlisle’s times are a mix of Wrentham and Devens. Still, add Brookline, Lexington, and Cambridge into the mix, and we’ve got quite the showdown on our hands.
#12 Catholic Memorial got revenge for their dual meet loss to Xaverian and finished third with 66 points. Junior Daniel Kaleba ran a massive PR with a 16:04 to finish 10th overall. Michael Upton was eighth overall in 16:00
Keep an eye out as more result come in. The Gauntlet has been thrown down. We talked a lot about the Bay State Conference Championship Girls race, for good reason, but now, with what the Catholic Conference ran, keep an eye on the Brookline and Natick Boys this Saturday. Concord Carlisle will be in action on Friday at Franklin Park for the Dual County League Championships where they’ll do battle with Cambridge Rindge & Latin.
