Newton v Wellesley on Tuesday

For Newton North, and several other teams in the BSC, the opening meet was postponed by rain. The Tigers are now scheduled to open their season with a dual meet against Wellesley at Cold Spring park in Tuesday.

Wellesley has already competed in one meet, sweeping Walpole and Dedham on 9/12. Reports from that race indicate that the the boys have a strong team and the girls have a formidable line-up of returning all-stars and fleet freshmen.

It will definitely be a test for both teams. I expect a rollicking race for the top spots among Newton's Seb Putzys and Dan Hamilton, and Wellesley's Nick Carroll and Will Volkmann. I don't see Seb losing, and I have confidence in North's overall depth. Add a slight home course advantage, and I give the edge to the Tigers.

For the girls, I don't think anyone quite knows what to think. I picked Wellesley to be the top team in the league, and that was before we found out that they have two more strong freshmen among their top five. Wellesley has to be the favorite, but North has good runners, too, but a little bit more rusty for not having raced. While I think that Cold Spring Park is a considerable home course advantage for the girls, it might not be enough to out to outweigh the speed of the Raiders. I expect to see some surprises on the Newton side, though, with the emergence of some new talent, and perhaps a re-ordering of the Tiger's top pack.

Other good races in the BSC: The Needham and Brookline girls are racing on Tuesday at Larz Anderson Park. I give the edge to Needham in a close meet. the Needham boys are very good, but have little chance against Brookline's juggernaut.

Norwood competes against Weymouth at Norwood, which should give an indication of whether the Mustangs have continued the progress from last year.

Good luck to all the teams and runners!