DIVISION 1 BOYS
Championships Dates: Nov. 11 – Division State Meets at Gardner Country Club; Gardner; Division 2 at Wrentham Developmental Center, Wrentham; Division 3 at Northfield Mountain. Nov. 18 – Meet of Champions at Willard Field, Devens.
Top Teams: Div. 1A – Brookline, Newton South, Acton Boxborough; Cambridge Rindge & Latin; Boston College High. Div. 1B – Westford Academy, Boston Latin, Wellesley, Algonquin, Natick, Winchester; Div. 1C – Reading, Sharon, Oliver Ames
Runners To Watch: Div. 1A – Jack Courtney Lowell; Lysander Duffield, Brookline; Chris Lanard, Boston College High; Kailas Ciatto, Brookline; Ryan Tudisco, Andover. Div. 1B – Paul Bergeron, Westford Academy; Jack Graffeo, Westford Academy; Eli Merritt, Wellesley; Colin Fisher, Boston Latin; Steven D’Alessandro, Natick. Div. 2C – Brendan Thomas, Oliver Ames, Ryan Leslie, Billerica; Ben Drohan, West Springfield.
Predictions (Team/Individual winners): Div. 1A: Brookline appears to be the overwhelming favorite for team honors. Individually, it seems to be wide open with a few capable of stealing the show. With Westford Academy now in Div. 1B, Courtney is the top returnee and early favorite. He finished sixth last year where he ran his best of 15:36. Div. 1B: We’re giving Westford Academy the nod here with Bergeron and Graffeo taking the 1-2 spots. The Stanford-bound Bergeron, a senior, ran a best of 14:43.71 last year in Div. 1A to finish second to Framingham’s Sam Burgess in Wrentham. He’ll be tough to beat Div. 1C : On the team end, this one could get close with Reading, Oliver Ames and Sharon among those schools that could be walking away with the plaque. Thomas, a 9:06 two-miler and a runner-up at this meet last year, is the runner to beat at the divisionals. Leslie could surprise, He ran 9:13 for the deuce during the outdoor season. Meet of Champions – Defending titlist Brookline, Westford Academy and Newton South seem to be the front-runners. We believe it will be two straight for Brookline and Bergeron.
