THE MINUTEMEN FACE MELROSE IN THE ANNUAL LIBERTY/FREEDOM CROSSOVER MEET
Meet Information
Melrose Dual Meet
September 20, 2022
Greenwood Park - Stoneham, MA
RESULTS
STONEHAM, MA - Tuesday The Minutemen traveled to Greenwood Park in Stoneham for the annual Liberty/Freedom Division Crossover Meet. The annual meet pits Lexington against a team from one of the small schools division of the Middlesex League. The meet is really a glorified scrimmage as it does not count towards the Regular Season title, but does provide an opportunity to get in some pressure-free competition at the start of each season. Despite resting its top seven runners, the Boys team nearly pulled off the victory with Melrose just edging them out by a score of 30-26. The Lex Girls on the other hand cruised their way to a 23-34 victory. One side note to the meet was the course at Glenwood Park. The roughly 2.8 mile course featured mountain-like terrain that caused a number of LHS athletes to come back battered and cut up after taking multiple falls trying to traverse the steep hills, sharp declines, and uneasy footing on on the extremely rocky terrain that makes up the three loop course at the park.
With the top seven sitting out of the meet, it gave a number of athletes a shot to compete at the varsity level. No one took more advantage of this than sophomore Alistair Rezvani. Running in his first ever Cross Country meet, Rezvani went right to the lead group along with senior captain Ian Miller, and senior Aviv Spitz (also running his first XC meet). Through the first two loops of the course this group stayed pretty tightly packed. On the final loop, Rezvani broke away and would end up finishing first for The Minutemen - third overall - with a time of 17:35. Miller was next for The Minutemen, finishing fifth with a time of 17:45. Next was Spitz (18:07) and senior Jinn Janpathompong (18:08), with sophomore Zach Barry rounding out the top five scoring positions for LHS with a time of 18:29. Along with the top five, sophomore Graham Schrodel (18:33) and senior Kyle Taylor (18:48) were the sixth and seventh finishers for The Minutemen.
On the Girls side, it was another debut Cross Country performance that highlighted the day. This time it came from senior Ava Criniti. She stayed with Melrose senior Jillian Bakey through the first half of the race, before taking off at a barking mad pace in the final mile of the race to cruise to victory by nearly a minute with a time of 18:46. Next across the line for the Lex Girls was senior captain Uma Sanker who ran 20:18 to place third. Sanker was followed by the dynamic freshmen duo of Nadia Abdinoor (20:58) and Sophie Johnson (21:00). Junior Dora Liao rounded out the top five for LHS with an eighth place finish in 21:11. Sophomore Claire Cunningham showed she is back in full fighting form after missing last Spring's Outdoor Track & Field season. Her time of 21:14 was sixth for The Minutemen, 10th overall. And it was another freshman who rounded out the top seven for the Lex Girls. Meghan Caldera (21:41) finished 11th overall.
Up Next
The Minutemen will next travel to Goddard State Park in East Greenwich, Rhode Island for the annual Ocean State Invitational. The meet will see The Minutemen test themselves against some of the top talent from around the Northeast competing in the Freshmen, JV, and Championship divisions. First race will go off promptly at 8:45am.
Melrose Dual Meet
September 20, 2022
Greenwood Park - Stoneham, MA
RESULTS
STONEHAM, MA - Tuesday The Minutemen traveled to Greenwood Park in Stoneham for the annual Liberty/Freedom Division Crossover Meet. The annual meet pits Lexington against a team from one of the small schools division of the Middlesex League. The meet is really a glorified scrimmage as it does not count towards the Regular Season title, but does provide an opportunity to get in some pressure-free competition at the start of each season. Despite resting its top seven runners, the Boys team nearly pulled off the victory with Melrose just edging them out by a score of 30-26. The Lex Girls on the other hand cruised their way to a 23-34 victory. One side note to the meet was the course at Glenwood Park. The roughly 2.8 mile course featured mountain-like terrain that caused a number of LHS athletes to come back battered and cut up after taking multiple falls trying to traverse the steep hills, sharp declines, and uneasy footing on on the extremely rocky terrain that makes up the three loop course at the park.
With the top seven sitting out of the meet, it gave a number of athletes a shot to compete at the varsity level. No one took more advantage of this than sophomore Alistair Rezvani. Running in his first ever Cross Country meet, Rezvani went right to the lead group along with senior captain Ian Miller, and senior Aviv Spitz (also running his first XC meet). Through the first two loops of the course this group stayed pretty tightly packed. On the final loop, Rezvani broke away and would end up finishing first for The Minutemen - third overall - with a time of 17:35. Miller was next for The Minutemen, finishing fifth with a time of 17:45. Next was Spitz (18:07) and senior Jinn Janpathompong (18:08), with sophomore Zach Barry rounding out the top five scoring positions for LHS with a time of 18:29. Along with the top five, sophomore Graham Schrodel (18:33) and senior Kyle Taylor (18:48) were the sixth and seventh finishers for The Minutemen.
On the Girls side, it was another debut Cross Country performance that highlighted the day. This time it came from senior Ava Criniti. She stayed with Melrose senior Jillian Bakey through the first half of the race, before taking off at a barking mad pace in the final mile of the race to cruise to victory by nearly a minute with a time of 18:46. Next across the line for the Lex Girls was senior captain Uma Sanker who ran 20:18 to place third. Sanker was followed by the dynamic freshmen duo of Nadia Abdinoor (20:58) and Sophie Johnson (21:00). Junior Dora Liao rounded out the top five for LHS with an eighth place finish in 21:11. Sophomore Claire Cunningham showed she is back in full fighting form after missing last Spring's Outdoor Track & Field season. Her time of 21:14 was sixth for The Minutemen, 10th overall. And it was another freshman who rounded out the top seven for the Lex Girls. Meghan Caldera (21:41) finished 11th overall.
Up Next
The Minutemen will next travel to Goddard State Park in East Greenwich, Rhode Island for the annual Ocean State Invitational. The meet will see The Minutemen test themselves against some of the top talent from around the Northeast competing in the Freshmen, JV, and Championship divisions. First race will go off promptly at 8:45am.