THE MINUTEMEN MARCH THROUGH THE LEAGUE AT 50TH MIDDLESEX LEAGUE CHAMPS
Meet Information
Middlesex League Championships
October 28, 2019
Woburn Country Club - Woburn, MA
RESULTS
WOBURN, MA - In 1970 the boys from Wakefield Memorial High School won the inaugural Middlesex League Championships by scoring 36 points, and their JV team put an exclamation point on the day as they swept the race with a 15 point effort. The Minutemen matched the effort of the '70 Warriors and much more on Monday afternoon in the League's 50th Championships. Lexington's varsity boys put a stamp on their undefeated regular season by winning the title scoring 36 points to runner-up Arlington's 84. In addition, LHS put up a perfect 15 points in the boys JV race en route to sweeping the top nine places. Not to be outdone the girls squad avenged their early season home loss to Winchester by capturing the League Title; LHS scored 42 points to the Sachems' 55. The girls also bested Winchester in the JV race 21 to 62. While Lexington's upperclassmen were dominant, The Minutemen's freshmen finished off what has been a stellar season, with the boys and girls winning the combined title by scoring 50 points; Winchester was second with 211. Over the last half century no team has dominated this meet more than The Minutemen. The boys have now won 25 of the 50 varsity races the most in the Middlesex League; and while the girls did not begin competing until 1976, LHS's 17 titles is more than double that of any other team. Simply put, this year's meet was a perfect example of the impressive cross country program Lexington High School has built.
Highlights from the Varsity Race
If there is one word that can describe Coach Trachsel's teams year after year it is "gritty." That was exactly what got The Minutemen to victory on Monday. Senior captain Danna Ofek sat back with the pack for the overwhelming majority of the race before turning on a last ditch sprint to nip Winchester's Lizzy Reynolds at the line for her second straight League Championship. Right behind the top two was freshmen sensation Mirra Payson who continued her stellar season by earning the bronze medal. Senior captain Pauline Steines was LHS's third runner in the top five finishers, turning in easily her most impressive race of the season when her team needed it most. Following after Lexington's senior harrier were a trio of Sachems who put the meet in doubt, but it was junior Anna Nelson who came across the line in a season best 20:24.43 to grab 14th place for her team. With the each team having placed four runners in the top 15, The Minutemen's grit came through in the form of breakout sophomore Julia Lennon-Newell. As she came down the final stretch she was trailing Winchester's fifth runner by nearly 20 meters, but she dug deep and unleashed a furious kick that propelled her past her rival. Lennon-Newell crossed the line in a near personal best 20:41.00 and her 19th place sealed the Championship for Lexington. Along with the top five senior Maude Hajjaj (20:51.04) was 22nd, while senior captain Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas finished her Middlesex League career with a 26th place finish.
Final Girls Team Scores
1. Lexington - 42
2. Winchester - 55
3. Belmont - 97
4. Arlington - 101
5. Woburn - 115
6. Melrose - 123
7. Wakefield - 147
8. Reading - 189
9. Stoneham - 280
10. Wilmington - 283
11. Watertown - NT
12. Burlington - NT
With former All-American and three-time defending champion Ryan Oosting finally off to college, this year's race was wide open for a new champion to emerge. Wakefield's Matt Roberto and The Minutemen's senior captain Micah Benson took the race out hard in the first mile (5:03) to ensure an honest pace by the field. As the race progressed the two fell back, and a pack of Belmont's Stephen Carvalho, Burlington's James Johnson, and LHS senior captain Adam Bernstein broke away from the rest of the field. The three battled it out, trading places over the final 800m. However, with a furious kick to the finish line Carvalho (16:09.24) just edged out Bernstein (16:10.80) for the individual title. Despite not taking the crown, Bernstein's teammates made sure that the state's #1 team capped off its League schedule with another victory. Benson was able to grind through the end of the race to place sixth in 16:29:98. Next across the line for LHS was junior Nick Porter who ran a season best 16:31.08, placing 8th. Following right behind Porter was junior captain Max DiCerbo, who's PR of 16:35.43 was enough to place 9th. Battling through stomach issues before the race, senior captain Matt "Big Mac" McAlarney literally gutted it out for his teammates to finish 11th and seal the Championship for Lexington. Along with the top five, fellow classmate and captain Selvin Backert was 13th in 16:45.08. While junior Maxim Slobodchikov ran seventh for The Minutemen, 17th overall in a time of 17:04.66.
Final Boys Team Scores
1. Lexington - 36
2. Arlington - 84
3. Wakefield - 120
4. Wilmington - 125
5. Woburn - 159
6. Reading - 164
7. Belmont - 177
8. Winchester - 183
9. Burlington - 183
10. Melrose - 245
11. Stoneham - 272
12. Watertown - NT
Highlights from the JV Race
In the girls race, the trio of Zoe Gu, Clara Fu, and Lauren Sterne swept the podium for The Minutemen. Their efforts all but ensured that LHS would win the JV race for the 18th time in the last 19 years. Coming across the line next for Lexington was senior captain Summer Spencer who's time of 21:42.79 placed her sixth overall. What made her run even more impressive was that she was not running anywhere near one-hundred percent, but insisted on giving her team everything she had one more time at the League Meet. The Minutemen's fifth runner, Lorelei Marcell turned in a big personal best of 21:51.02 to place ninth overall and lock down another Lexington victory.
As they have proven all year long The Minutemen's depth is simply unmatched on the boys side. That depth was showcased Monday as not only did they take the top nine places in the race, but the JV team's average time of 17:25 would only have been beaten by three other varsity teams in the League. Senior Seth Cutler led wire-to-wire for The Minutemen, taking the victory in 17:15.73. He was followed by sophomores Daniel Ramsey (17:24.39), and Thomas Lane who crossed the line in a PR of 17:25.85. Junior Reed Solomon continued his breakout season by finishing fourth with a huge personal best time of 17:30.52; he was just ahead of sophomore Graham Bracken (17:31.80). Fellow classmate Evan Eberle (17:39.43) out-kicked junior Nate Croke (17:39.77); the two placed sixth and seventh respectively, with Croke running a season best time. Finishing eighth was sophomore Noah Quadri, running a PR of 17:41.56, while Traver Smith III (17:43.56) charged through the finish line for a PR and a ninth place finish of his own.
Highlights from the Freshmen Race
Nowhere was The Minutemen's depth and dominance more apparent than in the combined freshmen race. Racing 3k, the ninth graders all raced together with the team title being awarded to the school with the lowest combined top fives from each gender. For the second straight year LHS took the team title with both the boys and girls scoring an identical 25 points for a total of 50. The next closest team was Winchester, who scored 211 points. As was also the case last year, the individual boys champion came from LHS as Alex Newton-Cheh turned in his best race of the season to win in a time of 10:39.50. Unlike last year, The Minutemen also claimed the girls championship as Kayla Gordon ran away from the girls field and bested over half of the boys field en route to victory.
"Runner on the Course" by Izzy Jakimczyk:
In the words of Boys Head Coach Bill Babcock, “the gloves were off” today as the Lexington Girls team pulled up to the Wu’s golf course for the 50th annual League Meet; all of which Babcock has attended... just kidding Coach. The day started off with none other than the second annual co-ed freshman race. Lexington, as defending champs of that particular race, went out with a bang and took home the gold for the boys and the girls. Kayla Gordon (12:10.73) took home a nice plaque today for her impressive first place finish for the girls in the freshman 3k (because apparently freshman would vaporize they ran a 5k). Not too far behind came good ole Ashley Taylor who kept the cookies down today and managed to bust out a quick (12:20.10) to secure a third place finish. Next came the girls varsity race, which turned into a nail-biter of a dual between Lex and Winchester if I do say so myself. Senior captain Danna (the hip joke is over) Ofek decided to give her whole team a heart attack by winning in the final one-millionth of a second with a time of 19:25.77. But, nonetheless becoming LHS's fourth two-time Girls Cross Country League Champ was a perfect addition to her eventful and impressive season. Next came freshman Mirra Payson, who was able to prove that freshman in fact don’t vaporize when completing a 5k by finishing third overall with a PR of 19:26.98. Our third runner was none other than captain "Saltine" Steines who was feeling really good from her workout last Tuesday, and crossed the line in fifth with a time of 19:34.78. Also notable was that our senior captain Isabel Siu (insert sneezing noise here) competed in her first League varsity race. The 2016 JV champion was in her element on the wonderful rolling hills of the course and put down a good time of (21:08.58). Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the girls junior varsity race was a very quick start after the official said we had thirty seconds and then proceeded to fire his gun immediately. After that shock to the system was over, our very own Zoe Gu took home the title in a (20:52.47) which she claims was all because she saw a Tesla this morning. Next came Clara Fu who came with a no FU-lling around kind of attitude and dropped a season best 21:03.19. The bronze medal went to Lauren Sterne who, after injury forced her to train on the Peloton and in barre classes during her two-week hiatus from running, still managed to remember how to sprint. Pigtails and all Lauren just edged out her competitor to secure the podium finish in a time of 21:39.73. Also a special congratulations to Till Steines (20:01.73) who ran a big PR in the JV boys race. I made a promise to put him in my recap and I feel as though it is my duty to make his dreams come true.
In all seriousness (because that’s clearly what I’m all about), great job to everyone this season! I really enjoyed running with everyone and feel as though I am about the luckiest gal around to have such a great group of teammates and such great captains to look up to.
Up Next
This Saturday a select group of boys will travel down to Wrentham for the Frank Mooney Coaches Invitational. The meet features four class specific races with the freshmen running 3k, while the upperclassmen will battle it out over 5k. The first race is set to get underway at 9:30am.
Middlesex League Championships
October 28, 2019
Woburn Country Club - Woburn, MA
RESULTS
WOBURN, MA - In 1970 the boys from Wakefield Memorial High School won the inaugural Middlesex League Championships by scoring 36 points, and their JV team put an exclamation point on the day as they swept the race with a 15 point effort. The Minutemen matched the effort of the '70 Warriors and much more on Monday afternoon in the League's 50th Championships. Lexington's varsity boys put a stamp on their undefeated regular season by winning the title scoring 36 points to runner-up Arlington's 84. In addition, LHS put up a perfect 15 points in the boys JV race en route to sweeping the top nine places. Not to be outdone the girls squad avenged their early season home loss to Winchester by capturing the League Title; LHS scored 42 points to the Sachems' 55. The girls also bested Winchester in the JV race 21 to 62. While Lexington's upperclassmen were dominant, The Minutemen's freshmen finished off what has been a stellar season, with the boys and girls winning the combined title by scoring 50 points; Winchester was second with 211. Over the last half century no team has dominated this meet more than The Minutemen. The boys have now won 25 of the 50 varsity races the most in the Middlesex League; and while the girls did not begin competing until 1976, LHS's 17 titles is more than double that of any other team. Simply put, this year's meet was a perfect example of the impressive cross country program Lexington High School has built.
Highlights from the Varsity Race
If there is one word that can describe Coach Trachsel's teams year after year it is "gritty." That was exactly what got The Minutemen to victory on Monday. Senior captain Danna Ofek sat back with the pack for the overwhelming majority of the race before turning on a last ditch sprint to nip Winchester's Lizzy Reynolds at the line for her second straight League Championship. Right behind the top two was freshmen sensation Mirra Payson who continued her stellar season by earning the bronze medal. Senior captain Pauline Steines was LHS's third runner in the top five finishers, turning in easily her most impressive race of the season when her team needed it most. Following after Lexington's senior harrier were a trio of Sachems who put the meet in doubt, but it was junior Anna Nelson who came across the line in a season best 20:24.43 to grab 14th place for her team. With the each team having placed four runners in the top 15, The Minutemen's grit came through in the form of breakout sophomore Julia Lennon-Newell. As she came down the final stretch she was trailing Winchester's fifth runner by nearly 20 meters, but she dug deep and unleashed a furious kick that propelled her past her rival. Lennon-Newell crossed the line in a near personal best 20:41.00 and her 19th place sealed the Championship for Lexington. Along with the top five senior Maude Hajjaj (20:51.04) was 22nd, while senior captain Isabel Siu-Zmuidzinas finished her Middlesex League career with a 26th place finish.
Final Girls Team Scores
1. Lexington - 42
2. Winchester - 55
3. Belmont - 97
4. Arlington - 101
5. Woburn - 115
6. Melrose - 123
7. Wakefield - 147
8. Reading - 189
9. Stoneham - 280
10. Wilmington - 283
11. Watertown - NT
12. Burlington - NT
With former All-American and three-time defending champion Ryan Oosting finally off to college, this year's race was wide open for a new champion to emerge. Wakefield's Matt Roberto and The Minutemen's senior captain Micah Benson took the race out hard in the first mile (5:03) to ensure an honest pace by the field. As the race progressed the two fell back, and a pack of Belmont's Stephen Carvalho, Burlington's James Johnson, and LHS senior captain Adam Bernstein broke away from the rest of the field. The three battled it out, trading places over the final 800m. However, with a furious kick to the finish line Carvalho (16:09.24) just edged out Bernstein (16:10.80) for the individual title. Despite not taking the crown, Bernstein's teammates made sure that the state's #1 team capped off its League schedule with another victory. Benson was able to grind through the end of the race to place sixth in 16:29:98. Next across the line for LHS was junior Nick Porter who ran a season best 16:31.08, placing 8th. Following right behind Porter was junior captain Max DiCerbo, who's PR of 16:35.43 was enough to place 9th. Battling through stomach issues before the race, senior captain Matt "Big Mac" McAlarney literally gutted it out for his teammates to finish 11th and seal the Championship for Lexington. Along with the top five, fellow classmate and captain Selvin Backert was 13th in 16:45.08. While junior Maxim Slobodchikov ran seventh for The Minutemen, 17th overall in a time of 17:04.66.
Final Boys Team Scores
1. Lexington - 36
2. Arlington - 84
3. Wakefield - 120
4. Wilmington - 125
5. Woburn - 159
6. Reading - 164
7. Belmont - 177
8. Winchester - 183
9. Burlington - 183
10. Melrose - 245
11. Stoneham - 272
12. Watertown - NT
Highlights from the JV Race
In the girls race, the trio of Zoe Gu, Clara Fu, and Lauren Sterne swept the podium for The Minutemen. Their efforts all but ensured that LHS would win the JV race for the 18th time in the last 19 years. Coming across the line next for Lexington was senior captain Summer Spencer who's time of 21:42.79 placed her sixth overall. What made her run even more impressive was that she was not running anywhere near one-hundred percent, but insisted on giving her team everything she had one more time at the League Meet. The Minutemen's fifth runner, Lorelei Marcell turned in a big personal best of 21:51.02 to place ninth overall and lock down another Lexington victory.
As they have proven all year long The Minutemen's depth is simply unmatched on the boys side. That depth was showcased Monday as not only did they take the top nine places in the race, but the JV team's average time of 17:25 would only have been beaten by three other varsity teams in the League. Senior Seth Cutler led wire-to-wire for The Minutemen, taking the victory in 17:15.73. He was followed by sophomores Daniel Ramsey (17:24.39), and Thomas Lane who crossed the line in a PR of 17:25.85. Junior Reed Solomon continued his breakout season by finishing fourth with a huge personal best time of 17:30.52; he was just ahead of sophomore Graham Bracken (17:31.80). Fellow classmate Evan Eberle (17:39.43) out-kicked junior Nate Croke (17:39.77); the two placed sixth and seventh respectively, with Croke running a season best time. Finishing eighth was sophomore Noah Quadri, running a PR of 17:41.56, while Traver Smith III (17:43.56) charged through the finish line for a PR and a ninth place finish of his own.
Highlights from the Freshmen Race
Nowhere was The Minutemen's depth and dominance more apparent than in the combined freshmen race. Racing 3k, the ninth graders all raced together with the team title being awarded to the school with the lowest combined top fives from each gender. For the second straight year LHS took the team title with both the boys and girls scoring an identical 25 points for a total of 50. The next closest team was Winchester, who scored 211 points. As was also the case last year, the individual boys champion came from LHS as Alex Newton-Cheh turned in his best race of the season to win in a time of 10:39.50. Unlike last year, The Minutemen also claimed the girls championship as Kayla Gordon ran away from the girls field and bested over half of the boys field en route to victory.
"Runner on the Course" by Izzy Jakimczyk:
In the words of Boys Head Coach Bill Babcock, “the gloves were off” today as the Lexington Girls team pulled up to the Wu’s golf course for the 50th annual League Meet; all of which Babcock has attended... just kidding Coach. The day started off with none other than the second annual co-ed freshman race. Lexington, as defending champs of that particular race, went out with a bang and took home the gold for the boys and the girls. Kayla Gordon (12:10.73) took home a nice plaque today for her impressive first place finish for the girls in the freshman 3k (because apparently freshman would vaporize they ran a 5k). Not too far behind came good ole Ashley Taylor who kept the cookies down today and managed to bust out a quick (12:20.10) to secure a third place finish. Next came the girls varsity race, which turned into a nail-biter of a dual between Lex and Winchester if I do say so myself. Senior captain Danna (the hip joke is over) Ofek decided to give her whole team a heart attack by winning in the final one-millionth of a second with a time of 19:25.77. But, nonetheless becoming LHS's fourth two-time Girls Cross Country League Champ was a perfect addition to her eventful and impressive season. Next came freshman Mirra Payson, who was able to prove that freshman in fact don’t vaporize when completing a 5k by finishing third overall with a PR of 19:26.98. Our third runner was none other than captain "Saltine" Steines who was feeling really good from her workout last Tuesday, and crossed the line in fifth with a time of 19:34.78. Also notable was that our senior captain Isabel Siu (insert sneezing noise here) competed in her first League varsity race. The 2016 JV champion was in her element on the wonderful rolling hills of the course and put down a good time of (21:08.58). Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the girls junior varsity race was a very quick start after the official said we had thirty seconds and then proceeded to fire his gun immediately. After that shock to the system was over, our very own Zoe Gu took home the title in a (20:52.47) which she claims was all because she saw a Tesla this morning. Next came Clara Fu who came with a no FU-lling around kind of attitude and dropped a season best 21:03.19. The bronze medal went to Lauren Sterne who, after injury forced her to train on the Peloton and in barre classes during her two-week hiatus from running, still managed to remember how to sprint. Pigtails and all Lauren just edged out her competitor to secure the podium finish in a time of 21:39.73. Also a special congratulations to Till Steines (20:01.73) who ran a big PR in the JV boys race. I made a promise to put him in my recap and I feel as though it is my duty to make his dreams come true.
In all seriousness (because that’s clearly what I’m all about), great job to everyone this season! I really enjoyed running with everyone and feel as though I am about the luckiest gal around to have such a great group of teammates and such great captains to look up to.
Up Next
This Saturday a select group of boys will travel down to Wrentham for the Frank Mooney Coaches Invitational. The meet features four class specific races with the freshmen running 3k, while the upperclassmen will battle it out over 5k. The first race is set to get underway at 9:30am.