THE MINUTEMEN CHALLENGE THE BAY STATE'S BEST; PLACE TOP-10 AT ALL-STATES
Meet Information
MIAA Division 1 All-State Championships
November 18, 2023
Willard Park - Fort Devens, MA
Photo cred (right): STEPHEN MAZZONE FOR BAYSTATE RUNNING
RESULTS
DEVENS, MA - For years Lexington has been known as "Two Mile Town." A rich tradition of distance running that stretched back decades has seen The Minutemen win five MIAA Divisional and one All-State Championship in the last 10 years alone. However, since high school sports resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic LHS has struggled to find itself among the top Cross Country programs in Massachusetts. Despite a gutsy performance, the Boys missed qualifying for the MIAA Division 1 All-State Championships last year with a 12th place finish at Divisionals. And, neither the Boys or Girls have placed higher than 11th at All-States since 2019. That changed on Saturday as both the Boys and Girls both came through with top-10 finishes. The Boys began the day with a seven man squad that featured five freshmen who ran hard in a talented field to finish eighth overall with 214 points. Brookline's top-ranked team came away with the overall title, scoring 54 points. While it was the team from Newton South who placed second with a score of 114. The Lex Girls had key contributions from two unexpected athletes to power themselves to a seventh place finish with 239 points. Oliver Ames won in dominating fashion with a score of 88 points. Fellow Middlesex League member Arlington earned runner-up honors with 172 points.
The Boys were led by the tremendous efforts of senior captain Joey "The Candyman" Ryan. LHS's top harrier has been the team's rock throughout all of championship season, and he proved again on Saturday that he is capable of competing with the best the Bay State has to offer. He placed 10th overall in a very talented field that saw Westford Academy's Paul Bergeron (15:06.43) earn his second of back-to-back individual state championships. Ryan's time of 15:56.04 marked the third consecutive race in which he dipped under the 16-minute barrier. Freshman phenom Patrick Noonan (16:05.12) followed closely behind with a 14th place finish, which was the top performance by any underclassman at the championships. Fellow classmates Caleb Ford and Trevor Stevens were next for The Minutemen. Never too far apart on race day, Ford placed 56th overall with a time of 16:49.39. Stevens was 60th with a time of 16:51.44. Along with Noonan, Ford and Stevens rounded out the top-three times among all freshmen in the Division 1 race. The all-important fifth man for LHS came in the form of junior Nathan Cunningham. He grinded his way to a time of 17:19.94, which landed him in 109th place. Finally it was another pair of freshmen who came across the line for LHS. After two of The Minutemen's top-seven were not able to compete on Saturday it was Eric House (17:42.12) and Owen Ross (17:48.90) who gave their teammates the best they had at Fort Devens. For their efforts, the pair finished in 136th and 144th respectively to wrap up an incredible freshmen campaign.
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Brookline - 54
2. Newton South - 114
3. B.C. High - 164
4. Cambridge Rindge & Latin - 170
5. Westford Academy - 181
6. Algonquin - 188
7. Wellesley - 204
8. Lexington - 214
9. Natick - 230
10. Boston Latin - 258
Like the Boys Race, the Girls Race also saw the 2022 Champ defend their crown as junior Aoife Shovlin (18:06.29) of Cambridge laid waste to the field and won by a margin of nearly 30 seconds. For the Lex Girls, the story of the day began with Samara McVey, who has been nothing short of a revelation this fall. LHS's top returning 800m runner on the track came out for Cross Country after three years of soccer to begin her career. There was plenty of hope that she could be a big piece of achieving the goals the Lex Girls set out for themselves to begin the season, but one can never be too sure how middle distance runners will fair on the trails. And, while McVey has been a solid piece for The Minutemen all season, Saturday was her finest performance on the track or the trails in her career. From the gun the senior led the way for her team. She came through the mile in 6:12, navigated the brutally challenging hill and the dangerous drop of the woods loop to the tune of a 12:49 two-mile split. From there McVey moved up through the pack and crossed the line in 25th place overall with a time of 19:37.29. Sophomore Meghan Caldera was one of the few bright spots for The Minutemen last year at All-States. This year, she raced with the confidence of someone who had tasted success there before. Caldera finished just a few places behind McVey (31st overall) with a time of 19:45.14. The next runner across the line for the Lex Girls found out she was racing no more than 90 seconds before the gun was fired. Freshman Alycia Charest has been firmly planted as LHS's number eight for the latter half of the season. However, when one of her teammates had to pull out of the race at the last minute, she was ready. From the moment the gun fired, Charest ran a fearless race. She was strides behind fellow freshman Callie Glenn until just before the hill in the second mile, and then made the move to try to bring them both through the challenging woods loop. As she came scampering down the drop at the end of the woods, Charest road that moment all the way to the finish where she crossed the line with a huge personal best (20:27.55) to place third for her team and 67th overall. Glenn, who battled illness for much of the week still gutted her way to 81st place in a time of 20:38.14. In another twist of fate, it was yet another freshman, Erin Ehmann, who was the fifth runner for the Lex Girls. Ehmann too had her best race of her season and placed 89th in 20:48.97. Sophomore Sophie "Snacks" Johnson (21:00.64) was 102nd overall, while senior captain Dora Liao (21:04.15) was the final finisher for The Minutemen. She crossed the line in 106th place.
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Oliver Ames - 88
2. Arlington - 172
3. Wellesley - 179
4. Cambridge Rindge & Latin - 219
5. Weymouth - 222
6. Needham - 236
7. Lexington - 239
8. Newton North - 245
9. Acton-Boxborough - 246
10. Westford Academy - 256
The 2023 LHS Cross Country season has now come to a close, but it is important to look back at all this team accomplished. After both the Boys and Girls graduated four of their top-seven from last year, new faces had to emerge if they were to compete at the highest level. Those faces came in the form of a wildly talented freshmen class. However, that talent would not have been as successful if it did not have the good fortune to arrive to a team stocked with veterans who took the time to learn how to lead their teammates. To their credit, those upperclassmen led their teammates with poise and passion throughout the season. Together they learned that success in cross country comes from a group of individuals who are committed to the team first, and understand that individual goals are achieved as a by-product of the team's success. The 2023 team will be remembered as one who made something out of seemingly nothing. One that improved drastically throughout the season. And, one that suffered brutal losses, but picked itself up, learned from its mistakes, and came back to fight again. It has been an exhilarating fall, with as many twists and turns as any great cross country course. Now that we move inside to the track, one thing is certain. We are on the dawn of something special at Lexington High School, and it will be a thrill to watch it unfold this year and beyond.
Up Next
Now that the Cross Country season has ended, The Minutemen will turn their eyes indoors. The first Indoor Track & Field meet of the season will take place on Monday, December 11th at 4pm. This will be the first Middlesex League JV meet of the year, and it will be hosted at The Track at New Balance in Boston.
MIAA Division 1 All-State Championships
November 18, 2023
Willard Park - Fort Devens, MA
Photo cred (right): STEPHEN MAZZONE FOR BAYSTATE RUNNING
RESULTS
DEVENS, MA - For years Lexington has been known as "Two Mile Town." A rich tradition of distance running that stretched back decades has seen The Minutemen win five MIAA Divisional and one All-State Championship in the last 10 years alone. However, since high school sports resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic LHS has struggled to find itself among the top Cross Country programs in Massachusetts. Despite a gutsy performance, the Boys missed qualifying for the MIAA Division 1 All-State Championships last year with a 12th place finish at Divisionals. And, neither the Boys or Girls have placed higher than 11th at All-States since 2019. That changed on Saturday as both the Boys and Girls both came through with top-10 finishes. The Boys began the day with a seven man squad that featured five freshmen who ran hard in a talented field to finish eighth overall with 214 points. Brookline's top-ranked team came away with the overall title, scoring 54 points. While it was the team from Newton South who placed second with a score of 114. The Lex Girls had key contributions from two unexpected athletes to power themselves to a seventh place finish with 239 points. Oliver Ames won in dominating fashion with a score of 88 points. Fellow Middlesex League member Arlington earned runner-up honors with 172 points.
The Boys were led by the tremendous efforts of senior captain Joey "The Candyman" Ryan. LHS's top harrier has been the team's rock throughout all of championship season, and he proved again on Saturday that he is capable of competing with the best the Bay State has to offer. He placed 10th overall in a very talented field that saw Westford Academy's Paul Bergeron (15:06.43) earn his second of back-to-back individual state championships. Ryan's time of 15:56.04 marked the third consecutive race in which he dipped under the 16-minute barrier. Freshman phenom Patrick Noonan (16:05.12) followed closely behind with a 14th place finish, which was the top performance by any underclassman at the championships. Fellow classmates Caleb Ford and Trevor Stevens were next for The Minutemen. Never too far apart on race day, Ford placed 56th overall with a time of 16:49.39. Stevens was 60th with a time of 16:51.44. Along with Noonan, Ford and Stevens rounded out the top-three times among all freshmen in the Division 1 race. The all-important fifth man for LHS came in the form of junior Nathan Cunningham. He grinded his way to a time of 17:19.94, which landed him in 109th place. Finally it was another pair of freshmen who came across the line for LHS. After two of The Minutemen's top-seven were not able to compete on Saturday it was Eric House (17:42.12) and Owen Ross (17:48.90) who gave their teammates the best they had at Fort Devens. For their efforts, the pair finished in 136th and 144th respectively to wrap up an incredible freshmen campaign.
Final Boys Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Brookline - 54
2. Newton South - 114
3. B.C. High - 164
4. Cambridge Rindge & Latin - 170
5. Westford Academy - 181
6. Algonquin - 188
7. Wellesley - 204
8. Lexington - 214
9. Natick - 230
10. Boston Latin - 258
Like the Boys Race, the Girls Race also saw the 2022 Champ defend their crown as junior Aoife Shovlin (18:06.29) of Cambridge laid waste to the field and won by a margin of nearly 30 seconds. For the Lex Girls, the story of the day began with Samara McVey, who has been nothing short of a revelation this fall. LHS's top returning 800m runner on the track came out for Cross Country after three years of soccer to begin her career. There was plenty of hope that she could be a big piece of achieving the goals the Lex Girls set out for themselves to begin the season, but one can never be too sure how middle distance runners will fair on the trails. And, while McVey has been a solid piece for The Minutemen all season, Saturday was her finest performance on the track or the trails in her career. From the gun the senior led the way for her team. She came through the mile in 6:12, navigated the brutally challenging hill and the dangerous drop of the woods loop to the tune of a 12:49 two-mile split. From there McVey moved up through the pack and crossed the line in 25th place overall with a time of 19:37.29. Sophomore Meghan Caldera was one of the few bright spots for The Minutemen last year at All-States. This year, she raced with the confidence of someone who had tasted success there before. Caldera finished just a few places behind McVey (31st overall) with a time of 19:45.14. The next runner across the line for the Lex Girls found out she was racing no more than 90 seconds before the gun was fired. Freshman Alycia Charest has been firmly planted as LHS's number eight for the latter half of the season. However, when one of her teammates had to pull out of the race at the last minute, she was ready. From the moment the gun fired, Charest ran a fearless race. She was strides behind fellow freshman Callie Glenn until just before the hill in the second mile, and then made the move to try to bring them both through the challenging woods loop. As she came scampering down the drop at the end of the woods, Charest road that moment all the way to the finish where she crossed the line with a huge personal best (20:27.55) to place third for her team and 67th overall. Glenn, who battled illness for much of the week still gutted her way to 81st place in a time of 20:38.14. In another twist of fate, it was yet another freshman, Erin Ehmann, who was the fifth runner for the Lex Girls. Ehmann too had her best race of her season and placed 89th in 20:48.97. Sophomore Sophie "Snacks" Johnson (21:00.64) was 102nd overall, while senior captain Dora Liao (21:04.15) was the final finisher for The Minutemen. She crossed the line in 106th place.
Final Girls Team Scores (Top 10)
1. Oliver Ames - 88
2. Arlington - 172
3. Wellesley - 179
4. Cambridge Rindge & Latin - 219
5. Weymouth - 222
6. Needham - 236
7. Lexington - 239
8. Newton North - 245
9. Acton-Boxborough - 246
10. Westford Academy - 256
The 2023 LHS Cross Country season has now come to a close, but it is important to look back at all this team accomplished. After both the Boys and Girls graduated four of their top-seven from last year, new faces had to emerge if they were to compete at the highest level. Those faces came in the form of a wildly talented freshmen class. However, that talent would not have been as successful if it did not have the good fortune to arrive to a team stocked with veterans who took the time to learn how to lead their teammates. To their credit, those upperclassmen led their teammates with poise and passion throughout the season. Together they learned that success in cross country comes from a group of individuals who are committed to the team first, and understand that individual goals are achieved as a by-product of the team's success. The 2023 team will be remembered as one who made something out of seemingly nothing. One that improved drastically throughout the season. And, one that suffered brutal losses, but picked itself up, learned from its mistakes, and came back to fight again. It has been an exhilarating fall, with as many twists and turns as any great cross country course. Now that we move inside to the track, one thing is certain. We are on the dawn of something special at Lexington High School, and it will be a thrill to watch it unfold this year and beyond.
Up Next
Now that the Cross Country season has ended, The Minutemen will turn their eyes indoors. The first Indoor Track & Field meet of the season will take place on Monday, December 11th at 4pm. This will be the first Middlesex League JV meet of the year, and it will be hosted at The Track at New Balance in Boston.