Just a week after hosting the MSTCA XC Relays, Highland Park will be busy venue once again for our X-C athletes and teams.
The Attleboro park and its Mark Coogan X-C Course with be the site of the fifth annual Highland Park Invitational. Schools from throughout Massachusetts and a few from nearby Rhode Island will participate in this weekend’s meet, which includes Freshmen and Open 3K races and the featured Steve Newman Varsity 5K events.
The top two finishers and the only two runners to crack 17 minutes at last year’s race will be back with defending champion Bilal Ethaji of Boston Latin (16:45.5) and East Greenwich’s Luke Allen of RI (16:53.2) returning. The runner to watch appears to be the Ocean State’s Cole Francis of Narragansett. Francis was sixth at last year’s RI State Meet where he clocked 15:58.72 for the 5K distance. He owns a best of 15:34 from the Great American X-C Festival in NC. On the track, Francis owns PRs of 8:40 for 3K and 3:58 for the 1,500 meters.
For the girls’ Bishop Feehan’s Ally Otam is the top returnee. She was third at last year’s race where she clocked 20:29.3.
Click on the links below for all the info you need for this weekend’s meet.
TIME SCHEDULE
9 a.m. – Freshman Boys 3k Race
9:25 – Freshman Girls 3k Race
10 – Steve Newman Varsity Boys 5k Race
10:30 – Steve Newman Varsity Girls 5k Race
11 – Boys Open 3k Race
11:30 – Girls Open 3k Race
12 p.m. – Award ceremony in front of clubhouse
***
Also on Saturday, nearly 20 schools will be at Stanley Park for the 28th annual Ted Dutkiewicz Memorial X_C Invitationals.
The Duck Races, a name the meet is commonly called, will feature Freshmen, JV and Varsity events. In 2023, three runners broke 16 minutes for the 5K course in East Longmeadow. Returning from that trio is Frontier’s outstanding underclassmen Evan Hedlund, who was third last fall as a ninth-grader with a time of 15:58.11. Lenox’s Benjamin Hardwood, who was eighth last year as a frosh, is also expected to toe the line.
On the girls’ side, Minnechaug’s Ava Ofcarcik (third, 20:29.86), Frontier’s Slyvie DIBartolomeo (sixth, 20:48.46) and Hampshire’s Keegan Butler (tenth, 21:07.96) are among some of the top returnees from last year.
TIME SCHEDULE
9 a.m. – Girls’ Frosh Race
9:30 a.m. – Boys’ Frosh Race
10 a.m. – Girls’ JV Race
10:30 a.m. – Boys’ JV Race
11 a.m. – Girls’ Varsity Race – 5K
11:30 a.m. – Boys’ Varsity Race – 5K
