THE MINUTEMEN DOMINATE IN THE OCEAN STATE
Meet Information
Ocean State Invitational
September 22, 2018
Goddard State Park - East Greenwich, RI
RESULTS
EAST GREENWICH, RI - The Minutemen competed at the 12th Annual Ocean State Invitational on Saturday. In a performance that left spectators asking, "what are they feeding those kids in Lexington?" The Minutemen dominated the meet, which featured schools from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.
Highlights from the Championship Races:
The large schools competed in the afternoon session this year, which meant that The Minutemen's best would toe the line before the JV and Freshmen got to race. In the Girls race, the true highlight of the day came from New York's Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland High School. The defending National Champion in the Mile took the Girls Championship race in a new meet record time of 16:06.87, breaking the old record by over a minute and a half, and posting a time that would have placed her second in the Boys Championship race. And it took that kind of an effort to defeat The Minutemen on Saturday. The Girls finished second to North Rockland by only four points. Junior Danna Ofek placed eighth with a time of 19:50.86. Ofek was followed by senior captain Kesinia Sortor (20:21.45) who placed tenth, and junior Pauline Steines (20:23.94) who was 11th. Sophomore Anna Nelson was 17th with a time of 20:44.35, and Leena Jafaar rounded out the top five by placing 20th with a time of 20:51.87. Sophomore Summer Spencer (22:15.19) and Maude Hajaaj (22:28.62) finished 36th and 39th respectively.
Not to be outdone, in what was a true team effort, the Boys took the home the team title for the first time at Ocean State. Senior captain Eli Gappelberg lead the way placing fifth in a time of 16:29.69. While Gappelberg set the tone for The Minutemen, his teammates put the meet well out of reach. Finishing in the kind of tight knit pack that is the hallmark of top tier cross country teams sophomore Nick Porter (16:37.90), senior captain Jeb Jacob (16:43.89), junior Matt McAlarney (16:48.63), and junior Selvin Backert (16:57.66) finished tenth, 12th, 13th, and 16th respectively. Their efforts tallied 54 points for The Minutemen, which bested second place Tolland, CT by 18 points. In addition to the tightly knit top five, sophomore Maxim Slobodchikov placed 25th overall with a time of 17:12.17, and junior Micah Benson was 33rd with a time of 17:31.16.
Highlights from the JV Races:
While the Girls fell a few points short in the Championship race, they came out on the winning side of a close race in the JV heat. Posting a winning score of 61 points The Minutemen bested runner up Guilderland High School by five points. The Minutemen's top finisher was Zoe Gu who placed second overall with a time of 21:30.61. Gu was followed by sophomore Lauren Sterne who's time of 21:56.10 placed her fifth. Fellow sophomore Izzy Jakimczyk also placed top ten, grabbing the tenth overall spot in a time of 22:11.48. Isabel Siu-Zmuidzi (22:20.86) finished 12th. The final scorer for The Minutemen was sophomore Aylin Bruce (32nd), who's time of 23:12.24 sealed the victory for the JV Girls.
Again not to be outdone, the Boys accomplished a feet that is seldom seen at any level of invitational racing. Running as a pack of five runners for the majority of the race, the group of juniors Adam Bernstein (17:09.18) and Seth Cutler (17:11.50), sophomores Nate Croke (17:13.99) and Max DiCerbo (17:20.45), and senior captain Lucas DiCerbo (17:25.39) swept the race finishing first, second, third, fourth, and fifth respectively. Their score of 15 points was 97 points better than the closest competitor North Kingtown, RI, and was the eighth fastest average 5k team time in any of the Championship, Varsity and JV races on the day. Truly it cannot be overstated what kind of high end talent and depth was shown by The Minutemen on Saturday, and they still were not done.
Highlights from the Freshmen Races:
Racing a 4k course, the freshmen got their first of three chances this season to run in a shortened all freshmen race. For the Girls, Clara Fu was The Minutemen's top finisher crossing the line in 17:25.26, good enough for 14th place. Yuna Cho was 20th in a time of 17:48.73. Casey Weisburg (19:06.61) finished 47th. Camiela Atassi (19:14.26) finished 50th. Sofia Rezvani rounded out the top five in a time of 19:25.02, enough for 54th.
After three hours of watching their upperclassman teammates lay down the gauntlet, the freshmen Boys were anxiously waiting for their chance to show what they could do at Goddard Park. Sure enough they followed the lead of their teammates, scoring 21 points (82 points ahead of the second place team Newton South) and dominating the field. Danielle Ramsey (13:44.85) lead the race basically from the gun and won the it by more than twenty seconds over his Lexington teammate Evan Eberle. Eberle ran a very strong race in his own right and crossed the line in 14:06.16. Following behind Ramsey and Eberle was the trio of Thomas Lane (14:15.82), Nicholas Lam (14:16.26), and Noah Quadri (14:18.06) who finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Across the board the Boys and Girls from Lexington made the three hour round trip to East Greenwich well worth it. They came away with four team titles, and a runner up finish, and it is clear that if they continue on the path they are on that come Championship Season in November they will be a force to be reckoned with. After leading his "JV" teammates to a clean sweep, Bernstein was asked by the race organizers what the goal is for his team for the season. His answer, "Win that State Championship!" Clearly The Minutemen are a pair of teams to be watched.
Up Next
The Minutemen are back in action Wednesday September 26th against Middlesex League rival Winchester. The meet - at Horn Pond in Woburn - is set to begin at 4pm and is the first Liberty Division meet of League calendar.
Ocean State Invitational
September 22, 2018
Goddard State Park - East Greenwich, RI
RESULTS
EAST GREENWICH, RI - The Minutemen competed at the 12th Annual Ocean State Invitational on Saturday. In a performance that left spectators asking, "what are they feeding those kids in Lexington?" The Minutemen dominated the meet, which featured schools from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.
Highlights from the Championship Races:
The large schools competed in the afternoon session this year, which meant that The Minutemen's best would toe the line before the JV and Freshmen got to race. In the Girls race, the true highlight of the day came from New York's Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland High School. The defending National Champion in the Mile took the Girls Championship race in a new meet record time of 16:06.87, breaking the old record by over a minute and a half, and posting a time that would have placed her second in the Boys Championship race. And it took that kind of an effort to defeat The Minutemen on Saturday. The Girls finished second to North Rockland by only four points. Junior Danna Ofek placed eighth with a time of 19:50.86. Ofek was followed by senior captain Kesinia Sortor (20:21.45) who placed tenth, and junior Pauline Steines (20:23.94) who was 11th. Sophomore Anna Nelson was 17th with a time of 20:44.35, and Leena Jafaar rounded out the top five by placing 20th with a time of 20:51.87. Sophomore Summer Spencer (22:15.19) and Maude Hajaaj (22:28.62) finished 36th and 39th respectively.
Not to be outdone, in what was a true team effort, the Boys took the home the team title for the first time at Ocean State. Senior captain Eli Gappelberg lead the way placing fifth in a time of 16:29.69. While Gappelberg set the tone for The Minutemen, his teammates put the meet well out of reach. Finishing in the kind of tight knit pack that is the hallmark of top tier cross country teams sophomore Nick Porter (16:37.90), senior captain Jeb Jacob (16:43.89), junior Matt McAlarney (16:48.63), and junior Selvin Backert (16:57.66) finished tenth, 12th, 13th, and 16th respectively. Their efforts tallied 54 points for The Minutemen, which bested second place Tolland, CT by 18 points. In addition to the tightly knit top five, sophomore Maxim Slobodchikov placed 25th overall with a time of 17:12.17, and junior Micah Benson was 33rd with a time of 17:31.16.
Highlights from the JV Races:
While the Girls fell a few points short in the Championship race, they came out on the winning side of a close race in the JV heat. Posting a winning score of 61 points The Minutemen bested runner up Guilderland High School by five points. The Minutemen's top finisher was Zoe Gu who placed second overall with a time of 21:30.61. Gu was followed by sophomore Lauren Sterne who's time of 21:56.10 placed her fifth. Fellow sophomore Izzy Jakimczyk also placed top ten, grabbing the tenth overall spot in a time of 22:11.48. Isabel Siu-Zmuidzi (22:20.86) finished 12th. The final scorer for The Minutemen was sophomore Aylin Bruce (32nd), who's time of 23:12.24 sealed the victory for the JV Girls.
Again not to be outdone, the Boys accomplished a feet that is seldom seen at any level of invitational racing. Running as a pack of five runners for the majority of the race, the group of juniors Adam Bernstein (17:09.18) and Seth Cutler (17:11.50), sophomores Nate Croke (17:13.99) and Max DiCerbo (17:20.45), and senior captain Lucas DiCerbo (17:25.39) swept the race finishing first, second, third, fourth, and fifth respectively. Their score of 15 points was 97 points better than the closest competitor North Kingtown, RI, and was the eighth fastest average 5k team time in any of the Championship, Varsity and JV races on the day. Truly it cannot be overstated what kind of high end talent and depth was shown by The Minutemen on Saturday, and they still were not done.
Highlights from the Freshmen Races:
Racing a 4k course, the freshmen got their first of three chances this season to run in a shortened all freshmen race. For the Girls, Clara Fu was The Minutemen's top finisher crossing the line in 17:25.26, good enough for 14th place. Yuna Cho was 20th in a time of 17:48.73. Casey Weisburg (19:06.61) finished 47th. Camiela Atassi (19:14.26) finished 50th. Sofia Rezvani rounded out the top five in a time of 19:25.02, enough for 54th.
After three hours of watching their upperclassman teammates lay down the gauntlet, the freshmen Boys were anxiously waiting for their chance to show what they could do at Goddard Park. Sure enough they followed the lead of their teammates, scoring 21 points (82 points ahead of the second place team Newton South) and dominating the field. Danielle Ramsey (13:44.85) lead the race basically from the gun and won the it by more than twenty seconds over his Lexington teammate Evan Eberle. Eberle ran a very strong race in his own right and crossed the line in 14:06.16. Following behind Ramsey and Eberle was the trio of Thomas Lane (14:15.82), Nicholas Lam (14:16.26), and Noah Quadri (14:18.06) who finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Across the board the Boys and Girls from Lexington made the three hour round trip to East Greenwich well worth it. They came away with four team titles, and a runner up finish, and it is clear that if they continue on the path they are on that come Championship Season in November they will be a force to be reckoned with. After leading his "JV" teammates to a clean sweep, Bernstein was asked by the race organizers what the goal is for his team for the season. His answer, "Win that State Championship!" Clearly The Minutemen are a pair of teams to be watched.
Up Next
The Minutemen are back in action Wednesday September 26th against Middlesex League rival Winchester. The meet - at Horn Pond in Woburn - is set to begin at 4pm and is the first Liberty Division meet of League calendar.