Hay bales. A water jump. And, for a good portion of the meet, a steady rainfall that at times got downright heavy.
For the participants at Sunday’s second annual MarshVegas Classic, it was Euro-style cross country at its finest. Three hundred and twenty-six runners tackled the obstacles and braved the elements, competing in eight events, the last of which had to be cut in half because of the threat of lightning at the Marshfield Fairgrounds.
None of this seemed to matter to Maynard’s Konrad Schluter. Competing in the Varsity 5K during the peak of the storm, Schluter raced to a meet-record time of 15 minutes, 58.2 seconds. Finishing second was Greater Lowell Tech’s Matthew Guerin in 16:15.2. Both were under the 2025 mark of 16:23.2, set by Dover-Sherborn’s Jackson Doyle in a race held under sunny skies.
Schluter never hesitated, forging to the front from the gun and maintaining a comfortable lead all the way to the finish.
“I am really happy with it,” he said. “It’s a PR at the beginning of the season, and I’m hoping to go even faster later in the season at, like, the Twilight Invitational (Oct. 10-11). I knew from the start of this race I wanted to take it out hard, because sometimes I start speeding up at the end of the races, so I took it out a little harder here. I just pushed through with all my might and got the win at the finish.”
For most of the runners at the meet, the uniqueness of this event was something they had never experienced—unless, of course, they competed in last year’s inaugural meet.
Schluter was among those embracing the unusual format.
“This is actually pretty fun,” he said. “I saw this on the Bay State Running‘s Instagram, about European-style cross country and I was like, ‘It’s time to do it.’ I got two of my teammates to run with me. The hay bales, the water jump, it was so much fun to do. I would love to come back next year, but I’m graduating unfortunately.”
In the boys’ Junior Varsity 3K, just six seconds separated the top four finishers—all of whom happened to be teammates.
Plymouth South’s Dublin Strassel took individual honors with a time of 19:04.6. The Panthers sophomore was followed closely by fellow sophomores Ian Michelin (second, 19:07.2) and Colby Brilliant (third, 19:07.8), and junior Jacob Gregory (fourth, 19:10.8).
“It definitely helped having these guys around,” Gregory said. “They are all pretty young when it comes to running cross country, especially. They’re all sophomores. I’m really proud of what they did today.”
All four agreed they have one particular goal in mind this fall—to win the school’s eighth straight Patriots League title.
“The trophy has been in the case for a while,” Gregory said.
The Freshman crowns went to a pair of Falmouth runners. The Clippers’ Tessa Ledwell won the girls’ race in 8:51.7 over the 1.5-mile course. Owen Langlois took the boys’ title in 8:07.7.
Greater Lowell Tech’s Hannah Levesque won the girls’ Varsity 5K, which was shortened to 1.5 miles due to the threat of lightning. She clocked 9:09.4.
Foxborough’s Liam Woods and Emma Dorich were the respective boys’ and girls’ winners in the Junior Varsity race, which covered 2.3 miles. Woods was timed in 13:09.7, finishing about 150 meters ahead of Sandwich’s Isaac Nascimento, who crossed the line in 13:45.2. Max Carestia of Foxborough was third in 13:55.5.
Dorich breezed to a 43-second victory over Sandwich’s Aslynn White, breaking the tape in 14:29.4 to White’s 15:13.5. Sandwich’s Grhace Chanya placed third in 15:17.1.
Dorich wasn’t alone in embracing the unusual event, which was sponsored by Marathon Sports and New Balance.
“I’ve never done a race like this before,” Dorich said. “It was really fun with the water and everything. I’m so wet. It was really fun. It made me focus on something else, other than the fact I was really tired. I actually really enjoyed it.”
