Monday marks the beginning of indoor track for Massachusetts high schools, but for a few runners, indoor will have to wait a bit longer while the cross-country season continues.
Nike Cross-Country National Qualifying Meets
The NXN Northeast and New York Regionals were held at Bowdoin Park in Wappinger Falls, NY, on Saturday.
Hamilton-Wenham, only the runner-up a week ago to Bishop Feehen in Mass. Div 2, won the Northeast Regional outright and qualified for the National Meet. Although their top runner was only 27th overall, H-W placed all of their five scorers in the top 60 and that was plenty good enough to hold off runner-up Champlain Valley (VT) and a surprising performance from Weston (MA) in third. It was an unlucky day for Feehan, as the Shamrocks placed only 8th after a blanket finish from teams 2-7. Incredibly, Feehen was only 28 points from 2nd place and an automatic qualifying spot.
In the boys race, Pembroke, the OTHER runner-up from Mass. Div 2, followed their near miss from a week ago with a strong second-place finish here, earning themselves guaranteed tickets to Portland. The Titans benefited from outstanding runs by Wesley Gallagher (3rd overall) and Christian Stafford (12th overall), and a comeback performance from Joe Vercollone, who finished fourth for his team and 32nd overall in 16:55, a full minute faster than he ran at Franklin Park a week ago.
Other Mass. teams scoring well included Div I champs Brookline in 9th place, and Div 2 champs Bishop Feehen in 10th. Apparently winning a team title in the State Meet is bad luck for doing well here.
NXN Northeast Regionals Results
Footlocker Northeast Regionals
Saturday was also the day of the Footlocker Regional Meets, with the Northeast regional meet held at Sunken Meadows State Park on Long Island.
In the seeded boys race, Newark's Edward Cheserek ran 15:20.5 to win and break John Gregorek's thirty-year-old course record. Meanwhile, three Massachusetts runners finished in the top ten to qualify for the National Finals in San Diego. Marshfield's Joel Hubbard (15:49.9) placed 4th, St. John's Jonathan Green (15:52.5) placed 7th, and King Philip's Chris Allen (16:03.9) placed 10th to claim the last spot.
Amazingly, the next two runners were also from Massachusetts -- Marshfield's Kevin Thomas and Wakefield's Stephen Robertson placed 11th and 12th -- and the Bay State won it's first team competition in a long time (has Mass. ever won?)
In the seeded girls race, Peabody's Catarina Rocha (18:19.9) finished third overall, the only Massachusetts girl to make the finals. Rocha is returning to San Diego, having qualified for the finals in 2010, as well.
2011 Footlocker Northeast Results Page
November 27, 2011
November 25, 2011
NNHS Alumni Results - Thanksgiving 2011
Thanksgiving Day Road Races have become almost as much of a tradition as Thanksgiving Day High School football games, providing an incentive for both the serious and occasional runners to get out there and race. There were over twenty-five road races held in Massachusetts yesterday, and a number of NNHS (and NSRP) alumni appeared in the results.
Let's start with the Boston Volvo 5K Thanksgiving Race, always a favorite of the Chebot family. This year's race featured a 4th place finish from Seb Putzyes (16:05) followed by a down-to-the-wire battle for family bragging rights between Ben and Dan Chebot, with Ben (16:12) prevailing by one second over Dan (16:13). Competing without the benefit of wheels, Scott Cole and Jesse Chebot finished together in 19:58.
I should also mention friend of NSRP Andrew Wortham, who finished 8th in 16:18.
In the women's race, Wellesley H.S. and Boston College alum Brielle Chabot won in 17:10. Newton South alum Kathy O'Keefe was 5th in 19:01.
Speaking of Wellesley alumni, in Framingham, Peter Krieg won the 17th Annual Framingham Turkey Race, running 16:47, while older sister Alexandra finished first in her age group, running 19:59.
Another Thanksgiving race that always gets a large crowd is the Gobble, Gobble, Gobble 4-Miler in Somerville. Friend of NSRP (and Concord Academy grad) Tyler Andrews placed 3rd in 20:20. Another NSRP regular, Cliff Bargar, placed 11th in 22:47, and just ahead of NNHS alum John Blouin (12th, 23:00).
Just a little farther down the results, I noticed a name I hadn't seen for a while: former Brookline standout and two-time Bay State League XC champion George McArdle, now 27, finished in 21st place with a time of 23:24.
In Wakefield, Newton North Asst. Track and XC Coach Shawn Wallace won his hometown race, fending off Wellesley grad (and friend of NSRP) Billy Littlefield. Wallace managed sub-5:00 pace, finishing in 15:24, seven seconds ahead of Littlefield (15:31). In third was my teammate and another friend of NSRP, Terry McNatt, who finished in 16:26 to win his age group by over two minutes.
Anyone remember Scott Zeller (NNHS '05)? Scott was a talented runner who played soccer in the fall and tennis in the Spring. In between and with no base, he managed to run 4:39 for the mile indoors.
Scott finished third overall in yesterday's 6th annual Donohue's Turkey Trot 5K in Watertown, running 18:29.
Know of any other NNHS alumni results from Thanksgiving week? Run a race yourself? Leave a comment and let us know.
Let's start with the Boston Volvo 5K Thanksgiving Race, always a favorite of the Chebot family. This year's race featured a 4th place finish from Seb Putzyes (16:05) followed by a down-to-the-wire battle for family bragging rights between Ben and Dan Chebot, with Ben (16:12) prevailing by one second over Dan (16:13). Competing without the benefit of wheels, Scott Cole and Jesse Chebot finished together in 19:58.
I should also mention friend of NSRP Andrew Wortham, who finished 8th in 16:18.
In the women's race, Wellesley H.S. and Boston College alum Brielle Chabot won in 17:10. Newton South alum Kathy O'Keefe was 5th in 19:01.
Speaking of Wellesley alumni, in Framingham, Peter Krieg won the 17th Annual Framingham Turkey Race, running 16:47, while older sister Alexandra finished first in her age group, running 19:59.
Another Thanksgiving race that always gets a large crowd is the Gobble, Gobble, Gobble 4-Miler in Somerville. Friend of NSRP (and Concord Academy grad) Tyler Andrews placed 3rd in 20:20. Another NSRP regular, Cliff Bargar, placed 11th in 22:47, and just ahead of NNHS alum John Blouin (12th, 23:00).
Just a little farther down the results, I noticed a name I hadn't seen for a while: former Brookline standout and two-time Bay State League XC champion George McArdle, now 27, finished in 21st place with a time of 23:24.
In Wakefield, Newton North Asst. Track and XC Coach Shawn Wallace won his hometown race, fending off Wellesley grad (and friend of NSRP) Billy Littlefield. Wallace managed sub-5:00 pace, finishing in 15:24, seven seconds ahead of Littlefield (15:31). In third was my teammate and another friend of NSRP, Terry McNatt, who finished in 16:26 to win his age group by over two minutes.
Anyone remember Scott Zeller (NNHS '05)? Scott was a talented runner who played soccer in the fall and tennis in the Spring. In between and with no base, he managed to run 4:39 for the mile indoors.
Scott finished third overall in yesterday's 6th annual Donohue's Turkey Trot 5K in Watertown, running 18:29.
Know of any other NNHS alumni results from Thanksgiving week? Run a race yourself? Leave a comment and let us know.
November 20, 2011
NNHS Alumni at NCAA Div III XC Nationals
I don't want to miss these outstanding performances from former NN teammates running at the Div III XC Championship in Oshkosh on Saturday.
Bates senior Ben Chebot placed 108th overall in 25:20.64, finishing as the fourth man for the Bates Varsity, which placed 7th out of 32 teams. According to online splits, Ben was in 199th place at the mile, and passed 90 people after that!
Rochester junior Dan Hamilton placed 239th overall in 26:15.56, the seventh man for his team, which finished 22nd.
Other notable performances:
Brookline alum and Washington Univ. senior Mike Burnstein finished 10th overall in 24:25.25, earning All-American. Newton South alum Andrew Wortham was 49th overall, and the second finisher for Bates, running 24:57.16.
Bates senior Ben Chebot placed 108th overall in 25:20.64, finishing as the fourth man for the Bates Varsity, which placed 7th out of 32 teams. According to online splits, Ben was in 199th place at the mile, and passed 90 people after that!
Rochester junior Dan Hamilton placed 239th overall in 26:15.56, the seventh man for his team, which finished 22nd.
Other notable performances:
Brookline alum and Washington Univ. senior Mike Burnstein finished 10th overall in 24:25.25, earning All-American. Newton South alum Andrew Wortham was 49th overall, and the second finisher for Bates, running 24:57.16.
Brookline Repeats as State XC Champions
For a few seconds yesterday, the crush of runners into the finishing chutes at Franklin Park reached its frenetic peak. In the span of six seconds, twenty-one runners crossed the finish line, piling up together in a sweaty, exhausted corridor of boides.
Near the end of that traffic jam, Brookline's Aaron Klein had to wonder whether he had finished far enough up in the standings. With so many runners finishing, a person can lose perspective and think that half of the runners in Massachusetts are in that chute ahead of him.
Klein, it turned out, had finished 83rd overall, 53rd in the team scoring. As Brookline's fifth man, his 53 points -- added to the 57 points from the four teammates who had finished in the previous minute -- was enough. The Warriors 110 points was 37 ahead of runner-up Lowell, and Brookline had won its second straight State Championship.
The D1 race was fast, as were all the races on a relatively mild day at Franklin Park. In boys D1, eight runners went under 16:00 led by St. John (Shrewsbury)'s Jonathan Green who held off Marshfield's Joel Hubbard, 15:41 to 15:42. Brookline's Chernet Sisay and Mark Perry finished 12th and 13th, and were given the same time of 16:11. Evan Strenstein (27th, 16:35) and Matt Goroff (51st, 16:54) were the other Brookline scorers.
Newton North's Justin Keefe, competing as an individual, placed 88th in 17:12.
Boys D1 Results on Cool Running
In the Boys D2 race, defending champion Pembroke had its top four runners score 1st, 5th, 6th, and 13th, but incredibly, that wasn't enough to win. Bishop Feehan's top five all finished under 17 minutes with a gap of only 23 seconds to wrest the title away by a mere two points.
Had it been a dual meet between the two schools, Pembroke would have had it won before Feehan's first runner had crossed the line. Indeed, Feehan's sixth and seventh runners also contributed to the singlet-thin victory, finishing ahead of Pembroke's fifth man.
Boys D2 Results
In the Girls D1 race, Peabody's Catarina Rocha crushed the field, running 18:12 and finishing half a minute ahead of Longmeadow's Camille Blackman.
Whitman Hanson's top five finished within 20 seconds of each other, from 19:27 to 19:47, as the Panthers rolled to the State title with 93 points, far ahead of runner-up Wachusett (168), and defending state champs Weymouth (177).
Evie Heffernan competed for Newton North, placing a strong 26th in 19:43.
Girls D1 Results
In Girls D2, Bishop Feehan made its case as the best team in the state, as their top five girls averaged 19:16, scoring a mere 63 points, which was 16 ahead of an excellent Hamilton-Wenham team.
The Shamrocks were led by senior Katie Powell and sophomore Abbey McNulty, who finished 2nd and 3rd overall in 18:44.
Girls D2 Results
Near the end of that traffic jam, Brookline's Aaron Klein had to wonder whether he had finished far enough up in the standings. With so many runners finishing, a person can lose perspective and think that half of the runners in Massachusetts are in that chute ahead of him.
Klein, it turned out, had finished 83rd overall, 53rd in the team scoring. As Brookline's fifth man, his 53 points -- added to the 57 points from the four teammates who had finished in the previous minute -- was enough. The Warriors 110 points was 37 ahead of runner-up Lowell, and Brookline had won its second straight State Championship.
The D1 race was fast, as were all the races on a relatively mild day at Franklin Park. In boys D1, eight runners went under 16:00 led by St. John (Shrewsbury)'s Jonathan Green who held off Marshfield's Joel Hubbard, 15:41 to 15:42. Brookline's Chernet Sisay and Mark Perry finished 12th and 13th, and were given the same time of 16:11. Evan Strenstein (27th, 16:35) and Matt Goroff (51st, 16:54) were the other Brookline scorers.
Newton North's Justin Keefe, competing as an individual, placed 88th in 17:12.
Boys D1 Results on Cool Running
In the Boys D2 race, defending champion Pembroke had its top four runners score 1st, 5th, 6th, and 13th, but incredibly, that wasn't enough to win. Bishop Feehan's top five all finished under 17 minutes with a gap of only 23 seconds to wrest the title away by a mere two points.
Had it been a dual meet between the two schools, Pembroke would have had it won before Feehan's first runner had crossed the line. Indeed, Feehan's sixth and seventh runners also contributed to the singlet-thin victory, finishing ahead of Pembroke's fifth man.
Boys D2 Results
In the Girls D1 race, Peabody's Catarina Rocha crushed the field, running 18:12 and finishing half a minute ahead of Longmeadow's Camille Blackman.
Whitman Hanson's top five finished within 20 seconds of each other, from 19:27 to 19:47, as the Panthers rolled to the State title with 93 points, far ahead of runner-up Wachusett (168), and defending state champs Weymouth (177).
Evie Heffernan competed for Newton North, placing a strong 26th in 19:43.
Girls D1 Results
In Girls D2, Bishop Feehan made its case as the best team in the state, as their top five girls averaged 19:16, scoring a mere 63 points, which was 16 ahead of an excellent Hamilton-Wenham team.
The Shamrocks were led by senior Katie Powell and sophomore Abbey McNulty, who finished 2nd and 3rd overall in 18:44.
Girls D2 Results
November 03, 2011
Virtual Roads and Trails
For many summers, I did most of my long runs on the trails of Lincoln. Starting from the Lincoln Train Station or Walden Pond, sometimes alone but more often with friends, I would wind my way through the woods and fields, circling Flint Pond, climbing up and tumbling down Pine Hill, along the narrow trail that took us past Fairhaven Bay, adding a loop around Mt. Misery... I had such intimate knowledge of those trails that I imagined it would be possible to sit down in front a roaring fire on a cold winter night, close my eyes, and replay an entire run, step-by-step, without leaving my comfy chair.
The other day, I was fretting about the fact that our cross country team hadn't found a time to drive into Boston to preview the Franklin Park 5K course. I seriously considered trying to take my team on an imaginary tour of the course, relying on my memory to describe every feature on those historic loops. I also did a quick Internet search to see if anyone had shot a course video, which would serve the same purpose.
I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did come across an interesting site -- Outside Interactive -- whose mission is to capture video to simulate running a specific race course or a favorite training route. I quote from the company's web site:
"...After enduring yet another boring treadmill run in another harsh New England Winter while in preparation for the Boston Marathon [company founder Gary McNamee] thought, 'what if I could film the course and view it while I ran on my treadmill?' [...] After compiling research about the latest technologies in videography (and a LOT of trial and error) Gary successfully filmed the 26.2 mile course from Hopkinton to Boston and other popular running routes by refining the videography and editing process to produce the smoothest views of the course seen from a runner's perspective"
The company thinks the main use of such software will be for use with treadmills, and they have made it possible to adjust the video playback speed to correspond to various different paces. Here's a sample (from the company's web site) showing a few highlights from the Boston Marathon Course.
I'm not a treadmill runner, and I don't think this software and video will change that, but it's an interesting idea for sure. I'm not sure how much it really helps to prepare for running a course, but it certainly helps call to mind the experience of running along those roads after the fact.
I wonder if the same technology could be applied to make a game for the Sony Wii that would allow you to experience a race with Keninisa Bekele or David Rudisha? Perhaps call it Track Track Revolution?
The other day, I was fretting about the fact that our cross country team hadn't found a time to drive into Boston to preview the Franklin Park 5K course. I seriously considered trying to take my team on an imaginary tour of the course, relying on my memory to describe every feature on those historic loops. I also did a quick Internet search to see if anyone had shot a course video, which would serve the same purpose.
I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did come across an interesting site -- Outside Interactive -- whose mission is to capture video to simulate running a specific race course or a favorite training route. I quote from the company's web site:
"...After enduring yet another boring treadmill run in another harsh New England Winter while in preparation for the Boston Marathon [company founder Gary McNamee] thought, 'what if I could film the course and view it while I ran on my treadmill?' [...] After compiling research about the latest technologies in videography (and a LOT of trial and error) Gary successfully filmed the 26.2 mile course from Hopkinton to Boston and other popular running routes by refining the videography and editing process to produce the smoothest views of the course seen from a runner's perspective"
The company thinks the main use of such software will be for use with treadmills, and they have made it possible to adjust the video playback speed to correspond to various different paces. Here's a sample (from the company's web site) showing a few highlights from the Boston Marathon Course.
Outside Interactive - Hopkinton to Boston 26.2 Mile Trailer from Gary McNamee on Vimeo.
I'm not a treadmill runner, and I don't think this software and video will change that, but it's an interesting idea for sure. I'm not sure how much it really helps to prepare for running a course, but it certainly helps call to mind the experience of running along those roads after the fact.
I wonder if the same technology could be applied to make a game for the Sony Wii that would allow you to experience a race with Keninisa Bekele or David Rudisha? Perhaps call it Track Track Revolution?
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