League competition has been underway for a few weeks now, and we’ve had a handful of invitational meets and out-of-state competitions that our teams and athletes have competed at this fall. With the month of September essentially in the books, we’ve gotten somewhat of a glimpse at the talent across Massachusetts this cross-country season.
This is something that will undoubtedly change this weekend in Wrentham, where several of the state’s top athletes will be competing in one of two meets in an MSTCA doubleheader: the Frank Kelley Invitational and the Bay State Invitational, as well as a few out-of-state competitions.
With that in mind, here’s what has caught our attention through the first few weeks of the season at the invitational meets held during the first month of the fall campaign.
North Attleboro’s Anthony Malakidis opened his season with a victory at the Martha’s Vineyard Invitational on Sept. 6, where he clocked 15:56.2 to outlast Catholic Memorial teammates Gerard Stock (second, 16:05.7) and Daniel Kaleba (third, 16:08.5). Malakidis returns from a 2025 season that saw him place fourth at the Division 1C Championship and sixth at the Meet of Champions. It appears he’s on the right track for another strong season. Stock’s performance was nearly a minute faster than his time of 17:01.5 from last year, when he finished 10th overall.
Hopedale’s Quinn Cook, one of our state’s top freshmen last year, got his season off to a promising start at the Highland Park Invitational on Sept. 12. Cook set the pace through much of the race and held on to second overall behind multiple Rhode Island all-stater Brooks Mello of Barrington. Cook was timed in 16:09.6, a time that is nearly a minute faster than what he ran last year at Highland and ranks fifth in non-league-meet action this fall.
We were impressed by Maynard’s Konrad Schluter’s win at the MarshVegas XC Classic, held Sept. 13. With obstacles to conquer in the Euro-style cross-country meet and a steady rainfall throughout the race, Schluter still managed to break 16 minutes for the five-kilometer course, finishing in 15:58.2.
On Sept. 19, two of our top-five girls’ teams certainly strengthened their cases for their spots in the New Balance Power Rankings. Lexington, which holds the No. 1 spot, earned that position at the Manchester (NH) Invitational. With its five scoring runners in the top 25, the Minutemen scored 62 points to beat a very strong Cumberland squad by 25 points. The Lady Clippers, the three-time defending Rhode Island state champion, recently won the Varsity II race at the Bowdoin Park Classic.
For Lexington, junior Jane Conrad and fellow classmate and X-C newcomer Amelia Whorton both broke 19 minutes on a tough 5K course at Deerfield Park, clocking respective times of 18:33.5 and 18:49.0. Unfortunately, Lexington wasn’t able to defend its team crown this past weekend with the cancellation of the Ocean State Invitational. But we expect similar performances from this talented crew in the weeks ahead.
While Lexington was making it happen in the Granite State, No. 3 ranked Concord-Carlisle demonstrated its strength at the Amherst Invitational. The Patriots had all five of its scorers among the top 11 en route to a dominating 27-81 victory over Amherst-Pelham. Notre Dame Academy was third with 116 points. Amherst-Pelham currently hold the No. 15 position in the power rankings, while NDA sits at No. 17.
It appears the summer training has paid off for Concord-Carlisle senior Maria Chopas, the defending Division 1C champion and a fourth-place finisher at the Meet of Champions. Chopas made it back-to-back individual titles with a PR of 18:15.4, the No. 1 time this season. Notre Dame Academy’s Kathryn Ford, a sophomore, was second overall in 18:37.9.
Stay tuned for quite a bit of movement to occur this weekend in Wrentham.
