The miles and miles of Christmas lights. The music blaring. The nighttime atmosphere. The hundreds of spectators and runners screaming along the course.
As is always the case, the excitement will be at a high level this weekend at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds, the host site of the mega-popular Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational, a two-day extravaganza featuring Small and Medium School teams on Saturday and Large Schools on Sunday.
And then, of course, there’s also what happens once the starter’s gun fires.
Twenty times over the course of the two days, runners will explode off the starting line, surrounded by the lights, the noise and the roar of the crowd.
To no one’s surprise, the varsity competition will feature some of our state’s best. Last year’s event included a new course record by former Westford Academy great Abby Hennessy, who won the girls’ Large School race, torching the five-kilometer course in 16:43.0. The fastest time among the boys was produced by Brookline’s Liam Hartmann, who captured the Medium School race in a PR of 15:04.80.
Here’s our preview of the two races scheduled in the Large School divisions.
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Large School Boys
Sunday’s race should feature several of the top finishers from the two races at the MSTCA Bay State Invitational.
Returning to defend his crown is Brookline’s Hartmann, who upset Natick’s John Bianchi in last year’s race by six seconds. The Brookline senior was fifth in the ‘A’ Race at Bay State with a solid 15:23.3. Hartmann will be joined by teammate Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem, who was sixth at last weekend’s meet with a PR of 15:35.8.
North Attleboro’s Anthony Malakidis enters with the fastest time this season among all the entries. Malakidis ran an all-time best of 15:20 to place third in the ‘A’ Race at Bay State. He finished sixth in this race last year with a then-best time of 15:40, which he improved on just three days later with a runner-up finish in 15:32.9 at the Hockomock League Championship.
The race also includes the second- and third-place finishers from the ‘B’ Race at the Bay State Invitational – Weymouth’s Patrick Geagan (15:33.92) and Boston Latin Academy’s Bardon Spiess (15:33.98).
Ten runners in the field have broken 16 minutes, setting the stage for a competitive race that could feature a sizable lead pack well into the closing stages. Among the other contenders are Longmeadow’s CJ Deliso (15:35.0), Newton North’s Ryan Costello (15:36.0), Algonquin’s Stephen Green (15:44.15), Andover’s Landon Zoss (15:44.73) and Boston Latin Academy’s Adam Kramer (15:45.91).
Large School Girls
The top two entries in this race are the only ones with seed times under 18 minutes.
Canton’s Lauren Raffetto (17:45.22) and Boston Latin Academy’s Sara Blanco (17:52.80) both broke 18 minutes this season, finishing 2-3 in the ‘B’ Race at Bay State. Raffetto was second in the Medium School race at Twilight last year with a then-best time of 17:52.8. Blanco finished sixth in that race in 18:25.8. Look for this duo to take charge.
Concord-Carlisle’s Maria Chopas could also contend. The Patriots senior captured the Div. 1B title and finished third at the Meet of Champions last year. She claimed victory at the Amherst Invitational last month, clocking a PR of 18:15.4 in what appears to be her only statewide or regional competition this season. Look for her to target a sub-18-minute performance on Sunday.
In total, 17 runners have seed times under 19 minutes this season. Among the others to watch are Wellesley’s Madeline Tuxbury (18:29.0) and Newton North teammates Maggie Abely (18:30) and Esther Dudnik. Tuxbury placed 12th at last year’s Twilight meet in 18:37.5. Abely finished ninth with her current PR of 18:28.3, just ahead of Dudnik, who placed 10th in a best of 18:28.5.
