Brookline, Wellesley Defend Team Titles at BayState League Meet

With a mile left in the boys varsity race at the Bay State League Championships, David Wilson looked back over his shoulder at teammate Brendan Grove, a few seconds in arrears. Whether it was a look of concern, or a check to see that Grove wasn't falling off the pace, it seemed to satisfy Wilson, who maintained that same lead over Grove all the way through the finish line, as the two led Brookline to their fourth consecutive league title.

(Trivia time: Seven of the last eight years, the top two runners in the boys varsity race have been from the same school. When was the last time the top two were from DIFFERENT schools, and who were the runners? Answer below).

After Wilson (15:19) and Grove (15:24), Weymouth sophomore Steve Sallowin placed 3rd (15:37), just ahead of Newton's Dan Hamilton and Mike Goldenberg, who were both timed in 15:42. North's Jared Forman was 8th (16:06), Dan Ranti was 17th (16:29), Jake Gleason was 20th (16:43), and Mike Weinfeld was 37th (17:16). North's Ezra Lichtmann suffered a fall during the race and did not finish.

The team competition was close, but Brookline -- with 1-2-10-14-25 -- prevailed by two points over North, 52-54. Wellesley, which placed four in the top thirteen, was a strong third with 66 points. Here are your twelve automatic league all-stars... (I didn't hear whether the injured Ryan Hardiman was voted an all-star by the coaches):

  1  #68 Wilson, David        SR Brookline               5:17.1   15:19.55    1
  2  #39 Grove, Brendan       JR Brookline               5:18.7   15:24.11    2  
  3 #454 Sollowin, Steven     SO Weymouth                5:23.5   15:37.89    3
  4 #302 Hamilton, Daniel     SR Newton North            5:25.0   15:42.34    4  
  5 #301 Goldenberg, Michael  JR Newton North            5:25.2   15:42.87    5  
  6 #247 Shields, Dan         JR Needham                 5:25.4   15:43.44    6
  7 #240 Newfield, Jake       SR Needham                 5:32.0   16:02.66    7
  8 #299 Forman, Jared        SR Newton North            5:33.2   16:06.23    8
  9 #411 Volkmann, Will       SR Wellesley               5:34.5   16:10.00    9
 10  #55 Pratt-Otto, Sam      JR Brookline               5:36.6   16:16.01   10
 11 #413 Williamson, John     SO Wellesley               5:37.1   16:17.42   11
 12 #403 Littlefield, Billy   SR Wellesley               5:39.0   16:23.04   12

Girls Varsity Race: White, Wellesley Lead Herget Sweep

Let us, for a moment, consider Rebecca White's record in the Bay State League meet over the last four years. 2005 - third; 2006 - second, behind D1 State Champion Jess Barton; 2007 - 1st, in a course record 17:33; 2008 - 1st, in a course record 17:25. She started off very good, and she has improved to a new level every year.

Yesterday she needed to be very good, because Brookline sophomore Leah Gellineau ran a fabulous race to take second in 17:43, a time which usually wins this race -- by plenty.

Camille Murphy hung with the top two for quite a while, but in the end had to settle for third in 18:35. Not her best race, but she will run better -- has run better -- at Franklin Park.

While White was claiming the individual title for the Herget division, three Herget teams -- Wellesley, Milton, and Natick -- were battling it out for the team title. Natick's Caitlyn Maclellan took fourth to give Natick the early edge, but Wellesley's Jessica Kaliski and Blake Dietrich took 5th and 9th, and Milton's Emily Hughes and Olivia Collins took 7th and 8th, meaning the race would come down to depth.

Wellesley's depth was a little deeper, or a little faster, as Priyanka Fouda and Emily Nadel both crossed the line in 14th and 15th and before any other team's third runner. Sarah O'Brien's 28th-place finish clinched the win for the Raiders, with Milton second, seven points back, and Natick third.

For Newton North, it was a tough race. The Tigers were led by Carolyn Ranti, who finished 10th in 19:13 to earn her fourth straight league all-star plaque. Nora Barnicle ran a strong race, one of her best of the season, to finish 13th in 19:20. She was followed by Becca Park (22nd, 1957), Susannah Gleason (31st, 20:24), Liz Altieri (44th, 21:23), and Elena Hemler (28th, 21:38).

Here are the league all-stars:

  1 #179 White, Rebecca       SR Natick                  6:00.7   17:25.85    1
  2  #77 Gellineau, Leah      SO Brookline               6:06.9   17:43.96    2
  3 #131 Murphy, Camille      SR Framingham              6:24.7   18:35.43    3
  4 #173 MacLellan, Caitlyn   SR Natick                  6:27.9   18:44.81    4
  5 #364 Kaliski, Jessica     SO Wellesley               6:28.2   18:45.80    5
  6 #121 Bowhill, Sara        SO Framingham              6:28.7   18:46.97    6
  7 #564 Hughes, Emily        JR Milton                  6:28.9   18:47.70    7
  8 #140 Collins, Olivia      JR Milton                  6:30.8   18:53.09    8
  9 #356 Dietrick, Blake      SO Wellesley               6:35.8   19:07.74    9
 10 #279 Ranti, Carolyn       SR Newton North            6:37.8   19:13.40   10
 11 #420 Connolly, Carolyn    SR Weymouth                6:38.8   19:16.33   11
 12 #494 Lawton, Brigette     SO Walpole                 6:38.9   19:16.57   12

Good luck to all the teams in their final dual meet Tuesday, and at the State Coaches Meet and EMass meets.

(Trivia answer: In 2003, Weymouth's J.J. Pryor took 2nd behind Newton's Chris Barnicle. Since then, the top two have always been from the same school.)