Let’s see — about 5,000 high school athletes, all sharing the same passion. Music blaring, miles and miles of Christmas lights, and the aura of a nighttime event.
Sounds like fun, right?
You betcha!
All that — plus some intense competition — will be on the menu this weekend at the immensely-popular, highly-competitive MSTCA Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational, a two-day event held at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Barnstable.
The action kicks off Saturday at 5:30 p.m. with the Large School races, featuring nine events, including Novice Co-Ed, Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior Varsity, and Varsity divisions. On Sunday, competition begins at 5:15 p.m. with the Medium and Small School races. The schedule includes 11 events, with Medium and Small schools combined except for the Varsity races, which close out the meet.
Throughout the week, Bay State Running will preview what’s in store when you have some of the state’s best converging for two days on the Cape. Just to give you an idea of the talent that will be making the trip this weekend – The girls’ races feature 17 that have seed times under 19 minutes, including a dozen in the Large School division. For boys, eight have gone sub-16 for the five-kilometer distance.
The course records, which were both set last year, are held by recent Westford Academy alum Jack Graffeo (14:56.1) and Needham’s Greta Hammer (17:40.1). Hammer is back to defend her title in what has potential to be an epic match-up with Abby Hennessy of Westford Academy. Both rank 1-2 in the state right now and are proven performers in races like this. If Mother Nature cooperates this weekend, this one could reach historic proportions with the one-year-old course mark sure to go down!
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SCHEDULE
SATURDAY – Large Schools
5:30 p.m. -Novice Co-Ed (2.1 miles)
6:00 p.m. – Freshmen Boys (2.1 miles)
6:20 p.m. – Freshmen Girls (2.1 miles)
6:40 p.m. – Sophomore Boys (5K)
7:05 p.m. – Sophomore Girls (5K)
7:35 p.m. – Junior Varsity Boys (5K)
8:00 p.m. – Junior Varsity Girls (5K)
8:30 p.m. – Varsity Boys (5K)
8:55 p.m. – Varsity Girls (5K)
SUNDAY – Medium/Small Schools
5:15 p.m. – Novice Co-Ed (2.1 miles)
5:45 p.m. – Freshmen Boys (2.1 miles)
6:05 p.m. – Freshmen Girls (2.1 miles)
6:25 p.m. – Sophomore Boys (5K)
6:50 p.m. – Sophomore Girls (5K)
7:20 p.m. – Junior Varsity Boys (5K
7:45 p.m. – Junior Varsity Girls (5K)
8:15 pm. – Varsity Small School Boys (5K)
8:40 p.m. – Varsity Medium School Boys (5K)
9:05 p.m. – Varsity Small School Girls (5K)
9:35 p.m. – Varsity Medium School Girls.
