It will be a busy day of championship racing this weekend as teams from across the state compete in the MIAA Divisional Championships. Who are the top teams and individual runners to watch in Saturday’s competition?
Here, we break down the boys’ Division 1 races at Fort Devens with previews of Divisions 1A, 1B and 1C.
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BOYS
DIVISION 1A
Day/Time: Saturday, 11:45 a.m.
Teams: Brookline, Boston College High, Andover, Newton North, Weymouth, Lowell, Lexington, Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Saint John’s Preparatory, Saint John’s, Boston Latin, Wachusett Regional, Newton South, Shrewsbury, Acton-Boxborough Reg, Braintree, Framingham, Lawrence, Attleboro, Methuen, Franklin, Haverhill, New Bedford, Worcester Technical.
Runners To Watch: Liam Hartmann, Brookline; Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem, Brookline: Colin Kurtz, Boston College High; Landon Zoss, Andover; Ryan Costello, Newton North; Patrick Geagan, Weymouth; Samuel Desouza, Lowell; Patrick Noonan, Lexington; Leon Ibranez-Fraile, Cambridge Rindge & Latin.
Top Teams: Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Brookline, St. John’s Prep; Boston College High, Newton South, Newton North, Lexington
Outlook: We have nine athletes listed as Runners to Watch and five teams identified as the top teams. But the reality is, there could be many more competing for high placements this weekend. That’s how talented this field is. In this division alone, 21 runners have broken 16 minutes this fall.
Expect a sizable lead pack throughout this race. There really is no clear-cut favorite, as nine runners in this field were among the first 15 finishers in 2025.
At the top of the heap are Brookline teammates Liam Hartmann and Ibrahim Abdel-Dayem. Hartmann clocked a season best of 15:23.30 to place fifth at the Bay State Conference Championships, while Abdel-Dayem won the recent Bay State Conference Championships on Oct. 31 with a PR of 15:23.90.
Andover’s Landon Zoss, the runner-up at last year’s Div. 1A race, ranks fourth in this field based on time. He finished second at the recent Merrimack Valley Conference Championships with a season best of 15:28.0. Boston College High’s Colin Kurtz ranks third overall with his best of 15:24.0 from the Catholic Conference Championships two weeks ago. There’s also Lexington’s Patrick Noonan, who took the bronze in the race last fall. He ran a best of 15:36 to in the ML-12 XC Championships and also captured his race at the Wickham Park Invitational where he was timed in 15:50.23 on a difficult 5K course in Manchester, CT.
Teamwise, get ready for a good one that could have several teams still in contention in the closing stages. Four of the top five teams in the New Balance Power Rankings will be on the line with Cambridge Rindge & Latin (1), defending champion Brookline (2), BC High (3), and St. John’s Prep (5). Of he four, Brookline and Cambridge Rindge & Latin have teh best chance to come out on top with the quality of their depth. Brookline has two front-running scorers, Hartmann and Abdel-Dayem, who have the potential to go 1-2, or at least come close. Cambridge Rindge & Latin is a more tight-knit squad with about a minute spread between all seven of its varsity.
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DIVISION 1B
Day/Time: Saturday, 1:15 p.m.
Teams: Xaverian Brothers, Natick, Algonquin Regional, Concord-Carlisle, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional, North Andover, Belmont, Arlington, Wellesley, Marshfield, Plymouth North, Quincy, North Quincy, Peabody Veterans Memorial, Westford Academy, Springfield Central, Waltham, King Philip Regional, Chelmsford, Winchester, Woburn Memorial, Bridgewater-Raynham Regional, Diman Regional Voc/Tech, Everett, Barnstable, Durfee, Beverly.
Runners To Watch: Jack Weintraub, Xaverian Brothers; Declan Hava, Natick; Stephen Green, Algonquin; Braeden Quayle, Concord-Carlisle; Josh Gamel, Lincoln-Sudbury
Top Teams: North Andover, Concord-Carlisle, Xaverian Brothers. Natick, Lincoln Sudbury
Outlook: The favorite here is senior Jack Weintraub of Xaverian Brothers, who has shown significant improvement since his first season last year. Weintraub comes into the meet with the fastest time in the field, clocking a PR of 15:28.0 to earn runner-up honors at the Catholic Conference Championships. He also won the Letter E race at the Manhattan University XC Invitational, running a PR of 12:51.90 for the 2.5-mile course. The Hawks standout has been unbeaten in his other races this fall. His effort at the conference meet was 1:20 faster than his best time last year, while his performance at Manhattan represented a 27-second improvement. He’s poised for a big race this weekend after finishing 20th overall in last year’s meet in 16:32.20.
Weintraub’s top challenger appears to be Natick’s Declan Hava, who was fifth against a loaded field at the Bay State Conference Championships on Oct. 31 with a best of 15:37.20. Other top runners in this race include Algonquin’s Stephen Green (15:44.20), Concord-Carlisle’s Braeden Quayle (15:49.90), North Andover’s Will Thomas (15:52.30) and the Lincoln-Sudbury trio of Josh Gamel (15:50.70), Lukas Masiakos (15:55.90) and Brandon Ma (15:56.90), just to name a few.
North Andover, which is No. 4 in the Power Rankings, appears to be the team to beat on Saturday. The Golden Warriors won the Merrimack Valley Conference Championships with just 48 points, 41 fewer than runner-up Andover. They showed pack mentality at its best, with just a 29-second spread between their top five runners and a 5K average of 16:11. North Andover’s top challenger appears to be seventh-ranked Concord-Carlisle, another team with the ability to bunch its scorers together.
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DIVISION 1C
Day/Time: Saturday, 2:45 p.m.
Teams: Billerica Memorial, North Attleborough, Reading Memorial, Catholic Memorial, Mansfield, Stoughton, Central Catholic, Sharon, Milton, Hopkinton, Medford, Milford, Silver Lake Regional, Bishop Feehan, West Springfield, Westborough, Hingham, Bay Path RVT, Agawam, Malden Catholic, Chicopee Comprehensive, South High Community, Somerville.
Runners To Watch: Sahil Gandhi, Billerica Memorial; Mason Niles, Billerica Memorial; Anthony Malakidis, North Attleboro
Top Teams: Reading, Catholic Memorial, Billerica Memorial
Outlook: Individually, this should be the most exciting race at Fort Devens. Three runners in this field have gone under 15:20 this season, and all three recorded their PRs on the same even playing field at Wrentham.
The top two seeds are Billerica teammates Sahil Gandhi and Mason Niles, who finished 1-2 at the Bay State Invitational Twilight Meet in mid October with times of 15:14.60 and 15:16.80, respectively. North Attleboro’s Anthony Malakidis is ranked third in the field with a season-best 15:17.65, which he ran in his recent victory at the Hockomock League Championships. He also finished third behind Gandhi and Niles at the Bay State Invite.
Can you say rematch?
With the next-closest runner nearly 40 seconds behind this trio based on season best, we expect the winner to come from this group. And there’s a good chance the race could come down to the wire.
Reading Memorial, last year’s runner-up in 2025, may have the edge for the team title. The 15th-ranked Rockets have the ability to have all their scorers among the top 20 finishers, led by Finn Johnson-Houlihan and teammate Declan Grant, who could crack the top 10. Catholic Memorial has some quality runners, too, and could pose a challenge. Leading the way for the Knights, who are No. 20 in the power rankings, are Gerard Stock and Daniel Kaleba.
