2008 State Meet (Boys): Mansfield's Park

Why are these runners smiling? (They're about to win go 1-2 at the state meet). Brookline's Brendan Grove (left) has no idea that in a few moments, Medford's Phil Galebach (right) is going to clip Grove's heel, depriving the Brookline runner of his left shoe. (Photo: Henry Finch)


One of my favorite scenes in the movie Chariots of Fire is the Sunday-morning montage of Eric Liddell speaking to a congregation while the Olympics are going on in the stadium far away. Liddell's sermon is interleaved with scenes of Aubrey Montague competing in the steeplechase in the rain. We see Montague struggle, falter, and fall, only to stagger on, his legs caked with mud from the wet track. He finishes the race, and slumps on a bench with his head in his hands, badly beaten. Meanwhile LIddell asks, "And where does the strength come from... to see the race to its end?" He pauses, and then, "From within."

On Saturday at Franklin Park, there were many runners who had tough races. EMass D1 winner Phil Galebach struggled throughout and finished 21st. Brookline's Brendan Grove lost a shoe two strides into the race, and finished 27th after running a 16:50 5k -- in the mud -- with only one shoe. Ben Perron of St. John's (Shrewsbury) collapsed in the final straightaway and crawled across the finish line.

Not only individuals, but teams struggled. Newton North ended up 16th after Dan Hamilton had to drop out of the race at 2 miles with a bad cramp. Newton South, one of the top teams in the state all year, finished 7th overall.

But of course, amidst the general gloom and heartache, there was exhilaration and glory.

A few minutes before the start of the boys D1 race, I saw a familiar figure in a full track suit jogging away from the starting area. "What is Said Ahmed doing here?" I wondered. Some twenty minutes later, the Boston English alum watched as two Boston Latin (via Charlestown High) runners, Ahmed Ali and Omar Abdi, romped to a 1-2 finish that looked positively easy. Coincidence? I think not.

While other teams struggled, Mansfield frolicked in the park, placing five runners in the top 55 to overcome strong challenges from EMass D1 winner St. John's Prep and CMass D1 winner Nashoba. Mansfield was paced by sophomore Shayne Collins, younger brother of Ryan, who turned out to be a pretty fair runner, as I recall. Four of Mansfield's top five are underclassmen, by the way.

For Newton North, there were bright spots. Jake Gleason followed his breakthrough 17:34 from last week with perhaps a better race in the mud, finishing 86th in 17:45. He was North's second finisher. (Jake -- my first race at Mass All-States I, too, finished 86th; the next year, I finished 9th. Yes, you can!)


Dan Hamilton and Mike Goldenberg try to stay out of trouble just before the mile. (Photo: Henry Finch)
In D2, Mike Moverman of Oliver Ames ran the fastest time of the day, 16:04, while capturing the state title by 15 seconds over Seekonk's Johnny Gregorek. Oliver Ames finished second, only three points behind Bishop Feehan. Two Bay State league teams -- Wellesley and Walpole -- finished third and fourth. Wellesley was led by Will Volkmann (17:25). Walpole was led by Jarrod Goula (17:27).