#1 Brookline
The Champs until proven otherwise. While Brookline may not have the team with the fastest PRs returning, they do have a resume that includes the last four Meet of Champions Titles, and the experience that comes with it.
Some will look at this roster and say we’re taking a gamble. That’s true. But this team is eerily similar to last years. They have two top returnees up front and a group of strong yet inexperienced runners looking to fill in the top seven. That comes with the territory when you’re part of a state champion team; you get buried down depth chart. But one thing Brookline has done better than almost everyone during these last four years is develop talent.
Up front the Warriors have arguably the state’s top contender in Liam Hartmann. He’s the top returnee from the Meet of Champions and won the Twilight Meet in 15:04. After dealing with injuries for most of the year, Hartmann was rounding into form toward the end of Outdoor. They also have Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem. He embodies the Warrior culture of next man up. He wasn’t in Brookline’s top seven in 2024. In 2025? He was 19th at the Meet of Champions. He also ran 9:21 last spring.
Now Brookline has a group of young runners looking to do the same. Nam Danh, Elias Thomasson, and Matthew Ritter were sophomores last fall and would have been in most teams top seven. All three had strong season’s on the track with Danh running 9:50 for the two mile, Thomasson running 4:34 for the mile, and Ritter running 2:01 for 800m. Now all three will look to follow that up and become one of Brookline’s next great distance runners. Nothing comes easy though. Runners like Toby Paradise and Noah Karp could standout this fall too.
The Warriors start their season against Needham on 9/9 and then see fellow powerhouse Natick on 9/16. Brookline actually lost their opener to Natick last season, but most remember them winning the Meet of Champions.
Projected Top 5:
Liam Hartmann 15:04
Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem 15:45
Nam Danh 16:30
Elias Thomasson 16:37
Matthew Ritter 16:38
