GODDARD PARK LIVES UP TO THE HYPE AS THE MINUTEMEN COMPETE AT OCEAN STATE
Meet Information
Ocean State Invitational
September 25, 2021
Goddard State Park - East Greenwich, RI
RESULTS
EAST GREENWICH, RI - Saturday The Minutemen made the long awaited return to Rhode Island for the 14th Annual Ocean State Invitational. The meet featured some of the top teams from across the Northeast, and arguably the number one prep runner in the country in Conard High School's Gavin Sherry. The Stanford commit put on an absolute show, smashing the 5k course record by over 30 seconds with a time of 14:58.57. In the end though, it was the boys from Saint John's Prep who took home the title with 81 points. The Minutemen were fifth overall with 143 points. On the girls side, the host school North Kingstown High School won the day with 43 points. The Lex Girls placed fourth overall with 101 points.
"Runner on the Course" by Serena Caira, Uma Sanker & Ashley Taylor
After two whole years, the Minutemen finally made their way back to the famous Ocean State Invitational, where they were looking to earn some apples, and hopefully some medals along the way. Turns out, the apples were replaced with bananas, but The Minutemen certainly did not disappoint in terms of medals.
Highlights from the Freshmen Races
The Freshmen Girls Race was the first off the line at the crack of dawn. And despite the Lex Girls still wanting to return to the naps they were taking on the bus, they placed third for Lex with a total of 91 points. Brett “smiley” Castro (17:33.12) and Mirei “the mini mighty” Saneyoshi (17:33.57) blew across the finish line of the 4k course one after the other, placing 12th and 13th respectively, and making everyone wonder what was in the coffee they were drinking. Shortly after followed Claire Cunningham who placed 21st overall with a time of 18:04.19.
Next up was the Freshman Boys Race, as the officials were keen to stay on schedule. This race was over almost as soon as it started, as the course was only a 4k. The freshman took a moment to realize they were running on grass, as they were so used to running on pavement at home, but once they realized that, they turned in some speedy times. Rounding off the top three freshmen were Max Zhang (14:38.46), as he placed sixth overall, Nathan Cunningham (15:12.79) was next, placing 21st, and Graham Schroedel (15:26.48) turned in a great race of his own by placing 25th overall..
Highlights from the JV Races
Moving on, we have your favorites, the JV Girls Race! First up, we had junior Serena “vector” Caira, securing her 8th place finish with a time of 22:35.39. She ran the whole race with teammate and fellow classmate Sarah Lane (22:51.30) and, to the amusement of every runner and possibly spectator on the course, hyped each other up during the whole race. Lane placed 14th overall. The other racers likely were very confused when they heard ‘channel Baskin repeats' on the infamous Ocean State hill, but that probably slipped their mind when the Lex girls pack zoomed past them. Captain Casey “Laroi” Weisberg (22:58.55) followed Lane to a 16th place finish to round out the Lex Girls top three. We would also like to make a special shout out to Runner on the Course author Ashley Taylor. Yes, she had a good race, but more importantly she tried to enlist and prove herself to the Marines at Ocean State. Unfortunately, to the surprise of many considering her buff stature, Ashley was ultimately turned down due to her failure to complete a single pull-up. Well, their loss.
Moving onto the JV Boys Race. The boys, especially one of them, were eager to earn their banana phones. This certainly showed, as the first five finishers for The Minutemen were all in the top ten! First off, we had sophomore Glenn Burscu placing fourth - The Minutemen’s top finisher across all races - with a time of 18:02.57. Following shortly after were juniors Aidan McPhee (18:09.97) and Rob Badger (18:12.87), who placed sixth and seventh respectively. Finishing off the JV boys’ dominant performance was junior Kyle Taylor, who placed ninth with a time of 18:17.96, and sophomore Joey Ryan, who was 10th overall in a time of 18:21.25.
Highlights from the Championship Races
Next up – the Championship Girls Race! Your favorite relay team trio rounded out the top three for the Lex Girls on their way to a fourth place finish in the overall team competition. Led by senior captain Clara Fu (19:54.41), who of course once again had amazing race photos on her way to a ninth place finish. Motivated by the prospect of getting chicken tenders after her race, junior Uma Sanker (21:21.79) came in 19th overall and fellow classmate Mirra Payson (21:28.30) followed in 22nd. Rounding out The Minutemen’s top five were senior captain Camelia Atassi, who was 31st with a time of 22:01.87, and junior Jasmine Sun, who finished with a new PR of 22:06.88 - good for 32nd overall.
Finishing off the day, we had the Championship Boys Race. While the boys had front row seats to Gavin Sherry’s historic performance, they were also able to turn in spectacular finishes of their own. Leading the way for Lex was senior captain Graham Bracken (16:53.82) in 22nd place. He was followed shortly thereafter by teammate and fellow captain Ollie DiCerbo (17:06.53) coming in 28th. Following the trend, yet another senior captain, Evan Eberle, (17:17.18) finished in 38th. Finishing off The Minutemen’s top five was the one-two punch of Thomas Lane (17:27.92) and captain Noah Quadri (17:29.02). The two placed 43rd and 44th respectively.
Tune into our next recap on Tuesday, where the Lexington Minutemen face the Winchester Red & Black (which is apparently their mascot) on their home course at Horn Pond.
Up Next
The Minutemen are back in Middlesex League action on Tuesday, when they will face off again the Winchester Red & Black. Winchester has gotten the best of the Lex Girls in recent years, and this next installment will likely be an indicator of who will take home the League crown. The meet - at Horn Pond - is set to begin at 4:30pm on September 28th.
Ocean State Invitational
September 25, 2021
Goddard State Park - East Greenwich, RI
RESULTS
EAST GREENWICH, RI - Saturday The Minutemen made the long awaited return to Rhode Island for the 14th Annual Ocean State Invitational. The meet featured some of the top teams from across the Northeast, and arguably the number one prep runner in the country in Conard High School's Gavin Sherry. The Stanford commit put on an absolute show, smashing the 5k course record by over 30 seconds with a time of 14:58.57. In the end though, it was the boys from Saint John's Prep who took home the title with 81 points. The Minutemen were fifth overall with 143 points. On the girls side, the host school North Kingstown High School won the day with 43 points. The Lex Girls placed fourth overall with 101 points.
"Runner on the Course" by Serena Caira, Uma Sanker & Ashley Taylor
After two whole years, the Minutemen finally made their way back to the famous Ocean State Invitational, where they were looking to earn some apples, and hopefully some medals along the way. Turns out, the apples were replaced with bananas, but The Minutemen certainly did not disappoint in terms of medals.
Highlights from the Freshmen Races
The Freshmen Girls Race was the first off the line at the crack of dawn. And despite the Lex Girls still wanting to return to the naps they were taking on the bus, they placed third for Lex with a total of 91 points. Brett “smiley” Castro (17:33.12) and Mirei “the mini mighty” Saneyoshi (17:33.57) blew across the finish line of the 4k course one after the other, placing 12th and 13th respectively, and making everyone wonder what was in the coffee they were drinking. Shortly after followed Claire Cunningham who placed 21st overall with a time of 18:04.19.
Next up was the Freshman Boys Race, as the officials were keen to stay on schedule. This race was over almost as soon as it started, as the course was only a 4k. The freshman took a moment to realize they were running on grass, as they were so used to running on pavement at home, but once they realized that, they turned in some speedy times. Rounding off the top three freshmen were Max Zhang (14:38.46), as he placed sixth overall, Nathan Cunningham (15:12.79) was next, placing 21st, and Graham Schroedel (15:26.48) turned in a great race of his own by placing 25th overall..
Highlights from the JV Races
Moving on, we have your favorites, the JV Girls Race! First up, we had junior Serena “vector” Caira, securing her 8th place finish with a time of 22:35.39. She ran the whole race with teammate and fellow classmate Sarah Lane (22:51.30) and, to the amusement of every runner and possibly spectator on the course, hyped each other up during the whole race. Lane placed 14th overall. The other racers likely were very confused when they heard ‘channel Baskin repeats' on the infamous Ocean State hill, but that probably slipped their mind when the Lex girls pack zoomed past them. Captain Casey “Laroi” Weisberg (22:58.55) followed Lane to a 16th place finish to round out the Lex Girls top three. We would also like to make a special shout out to Runner on the Course author Ashley Taylor. Yes, she had a good race, but more importantly she tried to enlist and prove herself to the Marines at Ocean State. Unfortunately, to the surprise of many considering her buff stature, Ashley was ultimately turned down due to her failure to complete a single pull-up. Well, their loss.
Moving onto the JV Boys Race. The boys, especially one of them, were eager to earn their banana phones. This certainly showed, as the first five finishers for The Minutemen were all in the top ten! First off, we had sophomore Glenn Burscu placing fourth - The Minutemen’s top finisher across all races - with a time of 18:02.57. Following shortly after were juniors Aidan McPhee (18:09.97) and Rob Badger (18:12.87), who placed sixth and seventh respectively. Finishing off the JV boys’ dominant performance was junior Kyle Taylor, who placed ninth with a time of 18:17.96, and sophomore Joey Ryan, who was 10th overall in a time of 18:21.25.
Highlights from the Championship Races
Next up – the Championship Girls Race! Your favorite relay team trio rounded out the top three for the Lex Girls on their way to a fourth place finish in the overall team competition. Led by senior captain Clara Fu (19:54.41), who of course once again had amazing race photos on her way to a ninth place finish. Motivated by the prospect of getting chicken tenders after her race, junior Uma Sanker (21:21.79) came in 19th overall and fellow classmate Mirra Payson (21:28.30) followed in 22nd. Rounding out The Minutemen’s top five were senior captain Camelia Atassi, who was 31st with a time of 22:01.87, and junior Jasmine Sun, who finished with a new PR of 22:06.88 - good for 32nd overall.
Finishing off the day, we had the Championship Boys Race. While the boys had front row seats to Gavin Sherry’s historic performance, they were also able to turn in spectacular finishes of their own. Leading the way for Lex was senior captain Graham Bracken (16:53.82) in 22nd place. He was followed shortly thereafter by teammate and fellow captain Ollie DiCerbo (17:06.53) coming in 28th. Following the trend, yet another senior captain, Evan Eberle, (17:17.18) finished in 38th. Finishing off The Minutemen’s top five was the one-two punch of Thomas Lane (17:27.92) and captain Noah Quadri (17:29.02). The two placed 43rd and 44th respectively.
Tune into our next recap on Tuesday, where the Lexington Minutemen face the Winchester Red & Black (which is apparently their mascot) on their home course at Horn Pond.
Up Next
The Minutemen are back in Middlesex League action on Tuesday, when they will face off again the Winchester Red & Black. Winchester has gotten the best of the Lex Girls in recent years, and this next installment will likely be an indicator of who will take home the League crown. The meet - at Horn Pond - is set to begin at 4:30pm on September 28th.