Boys - Carey Division
Brookline 7 - 0
Weymouth 6 - 1
Needham 5 - 2
NNHS 5 - 2
Framingham 3 - 4
Braintree 0 - 7
Brookline is 7-0, but hasn't faced a top-tier team in Bay State action since its early win against Needham. On the other hand, they have raced two big invitationals with impressive results. With four runners (Gibson, Burnstein, Lehane, and Eisenberg-Guyot) under 16:45 for 5K, they should have no trouble with Weymouth or Newton North. They migt get a fight from Wellesley, but unless the Warriors decide to take a meet off, they will finish undefeated... I'm frankly surprised to see Weymouth at 6-1 this late in the season. Although they lost to Wellesley, they managed an excruciatingly close victory (27-30) over Needham. They still have to face Brookline (10/11) and Newton North (10/17). If North has Seb Putzys back by then, that will be a very close meet. Dan Pope has been the top runner for the Wildcats, with Mark Jordan not far behind. Pope ran 17:39 at the Bay State Invite, but it wasn't a good race for him or for the team. He's Weymouth's best hope for a top-12 finish at the league meet... Needham started the year with a victory over Newton North, lost to Brookline, and had hopes of winning out, but an injury to Brett Riley doomed them against Weymouth. Sam Miller has been running extremely well (16:38 at Norwood's 3+ mile course), with Kevin Potterton and Liam Gluck in supporting roles. Needham should win easily against Walpole/Milton next week and Dedham the week after, setting up a final meet showdown with Wellesley. If Riley is healthy, I think they'll win that meet... Newton North has been struggling without Putzys (mono), but it has been encouraging to see underclassmen Dan Hamilton (soph), Ben Chebot (junior), and Charlie Krasnow (junior) step up. Hamilton has won two meets outright, and finished 3rd against Wellesley, only a few seconds behind Volkman. All the same, they would dearly love to have Putzys back for their dual meet against Weymouth on 10/17... Framingham always seems to have one or two good runners, and this year's star is Alex Chmielinski, who beat Needham's Potterton and North's Putzys in the opening meet of the year and hasn't looked back... Braintree has struggled this year lacking both a top runner (last year it was Chris O'Day) and depth. Here's hoping that in future years Braintree rebounds to its previous stature. (It was Braintree, after all, that in 2001 ended Brookline's 5-year dual meet win streak.)
Boys - Herget Division
Wellesley 7 - 0
Norwood 3 - 4
Natick 3 - 4
Walpole 2 - 5
Milton 1 - 6
Dedham 0 - 7
Undefeated Wellesley has beaten two of the top four teams in the Carey (Weymouth and Newton North), but has yet to run against Needham or Brookline. Coach Lou Perlman thinks he has five guys who can go under 17:00 for 5K, but I think that might be a stretch for them. Wellesley definitely needs to get Tommy Mayell back. As a soph, Mayell ran 16:45 for 5K and finished in the top 15 in the State for Div II. This year he has battled injuries and illness. Let's hope he returns to form for the second half the season... The rest of the Herget divisision is fairly weak, with Norwood making a minor resurgence. Led by Slubelus Villius and Peter Spadoni (2nd and 3rd against North), the Mustangs beat Natick last Wednesday... for Natick, Mike Zanchi has emerged as Natick's top runner (he ran 17:55 for 2nd at Cold Springs Park), but their underclassmen haven't come along enough to make them a power yet... Walpole and Milton are languishing. Walpole's top runner is James (?) Scipione, while Milton's top runner, Connors, actually beat North's Hamilton at Houghton's Pond. However, neither team has depth to compete with the larger schools... Dedham, the only Division IV school in the BSC is very undermanned and lost recently to Braintree.
Top Individuals - Boys
Gibson (BRK)
Miller (NEE)
Lehane (BRK)
Burnstein (BRK)
Eisenberg-Guyot (BRK)
Chmielinski (FRA)
Pope (WEY)
Mercurio (BRK)
Potterton (NEE)
Mayell (WEL)
Volkman (WEL)
Stravinski (WEL)
Connor (MIL)
Jordan (WEY)
Hamilton (NN)
Girls - Carey Division
NNHS 7 - 0
Brookline 6 - 1
Weymouth 6 - 1
Needham 3 - 4
Braintree 1 - 6
Framingham 1 - 6
Newton North lost two dual meets last year -- to Wellesley and Weymouth. Last Wednesday, the Tigers avenged the loss to Wellesley in stunning fashion, placing three in front of Wellesley's freshman phenom Faith Richardson, and taking 4 of the top 5. The Weymouth girls must be very, very anxious right now. Unless she runs off-course, Jess Barton looks unstoppable -- in better form than when she was State Champion in 2004. Behind her, Haleigh Smith and Carolyn Ranti look like top 8 runners at the league meet, with Nora Barnicle and Franca Godenzi close behind... Weymouth is also looking very strong, led by junior Kristen Mahoney and returning all-star Nicole Pearce. Although they lost an early meet to Wellesley, last Saturday they showed how good they can be in a big meet, finishing 3rd at the Bay State Invite, ahead of perennial power Newton South. On the strength of that meet, they have leaped to 5th in the MSTCA poll of top Div I teams... Brookline continues to amaze, taking a 6-1 record into the final four meets. Their star is freshman Emily Groopman, who looks very likely to be in the top 12 at the league meet. Brookline still needs to run against the big three: Weymouth, Wellesley, and Newton North, but if they finish 7-4, that's still a huge improvement for the program... Needham has struggled somewhat this year. Emily Lipman has been a consistent #1 performer for the Rockets, but the gap back to Scwinden and Kelley has been too great... Braintree won their meet with Framingham, and should win against Dedham, but are unlikely to do more than that... Framingham gets points for enthusiasm -- they have a large, boisterous team and an energetic coaching staff -- but they are at least a year away from developing the runners to win meets. Here's hoping they keep the program growing and improving.
Girls - Herget Division
Wellesley 6 - 1
Natick 6 - 1
Milton 3 - 4
Walpole 2 - 5
Norwood 1 - 6
Dedham 0 - 7
I thought Wellesley would be hurting this year, but with freshman Faith Richardson at the front of their pack, they look surprisingly good. The Raiders beat defending Carey division champs, Weymouth, and gave Newton North a good run. Richardson looks like the real deal, and has won three of five races, losing only to the Newton girls and Weymouth's Mahoney. I expect Wellesley to beat Brookline easily, and take down Natick for the Herget division crown... Natick has an tremendous one-two in Becca White and Anya Price (2nd and 3rd behind Barton at Cold Springs Park), but the drop off to Emily Panek cost them against the Tigers and will cost them even more in bigger meets. Natick has yet to face Wellesley or Weymouth. In both races, they might take the top spots, but will find it hard to find the depth to win the meet... Milton is the best of the rest in the Herget, with Horowitz their best runner... Walpole and Norwood are rebuilding... Dedham has struggled to field a complete and healthy team all year.
Top Individuals - Girls
Barton (NN)
White (NAT)
Mahoney (WEY)
Price (NAT)
Smith (NN)
Ranti (NN)
Richardson (WEL)
Groopman (BRK)
Barnicle (NN)
Pearce (WEY)
Gnirke (WEL)
Parise (BRK)
Lipman (NEE)
Sachetti (WEY)
Godenzi (NN)
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