Sophomore Price Day (third from left) went on to finish the race in first place. (Courtesy photos)
Bromfield runners Patrick Griffin (second from left) and Nick Steele (second from right. (Courtesy photos)>
Typically, cross-country is thought of as an individual sport, but nowhere did it seem more like a team sport than on Saturday at the Central Massachusetts District Championships held at Gardner Municipal Golf Course.
The Bromfield Boys cross-country team has enjoyed their undefeated status within the Midland-Wachusett league this season but knew their toughest district opponents were outside their league, including perennial favorite Hopedale, along with Whitinsville Christian, and Parker Charter.
Observers were not expecting the Trojans to match last year’s third-place district finish after losing three of their top five runners from last year’s team, and their hope for a top-five district finish seemed a bit of a stretch.
As expected, the strong Hopedale contingent repeated as district champion, with a team score of 40, followed by Whitinsville Christian with 95 points. The Bromfield Trojans (170), however, took the field by surprise and squeaked by Parker Charter (171) by only one point to earn the third and final State qualifying spot.
Throughout the season, Price Day has led the Bromfield squad, finishing first in nearly all his races. So it was no surprise when Day came out on top again, besting the strongest runners from Central Massachusetts, winning the race as a sophomore with a time of 15 minutes, 11 second over the hilly 2.9-mile course. Day’s time was 48 seconds faster than he ran last year as a freshman, and it puts him fourth on the list for best times (since 1997) of Bromfield runners at Gardner Golf Course.
It was the performance of Day’s teammates, however, that pulled the team through on its state qualifying mission. Senior Patrick Griffin used his 400-meter track speed to pass five runners in the last half mile of the course, finishing a solid 20th place with a time of 16:23. In his finishing kick, Griffin overcame several league foes who had finished ahead of him two weeks earlier at the league meet. Freshman Nick Steele crossed the line in 16:35, strong enough for 33rd place. Steele’s time was 53 seconds faster than his time last year on the same course.
Bromfield’s fourth runner, Sam Dyer, proved this year why he is considered a big race competitor. Last year, one of the major reasons the team qualified for states was Dyer’s finish at districts. Again, Dyer delivered his best race of the season, chipping 24 seconds off his performance from last year, finishing 36th out of 206 runners in 16:46.
Sophomore Matt Polimou ran a gutsy race in a tight pack, completing the course in 17:45, 80th place and 29 seconds faster than last year. Seniors Alex Ortiz and Ian Harrington represented the Trojans for the non-scoring sixth and seventh positions.
With their third-place district finish under their belt, the boys set their sights on next week’s State Championship at Northfield Mountain.
Girls
The Bromfield Girls cross-country team faced stiff competition in their Central Massachusetts District Championship, with the field being much deeper and stronger than last year. As in the league meet, Tyngsboro dominated with a score of 43. Notre Dame Academy of Worcester was second with 110 while league rival Narragansett was third (140). Bromfield finished ninth out of 24 teams, with 245 points.
Sophia Collins led the Trojans with a 30th place finish (out of 168 runners) in a time of 19:46. Junior Alexia Lipman completed the 2.9 mile course in 20:16 for 46th place.
Shannon Barrett improved on her time from last year by close to 30 seconds to take 54th spot while Kate Toll crossed the line in 20:39.
Middle schooler Sophie Beckman surged in the final half mile to become the fifth scorer for the Lady Trojans, running a time of 21:07. Beckman’s performance made her the eighth-fastest seventh-grader in the race.
Captain Kate Rowatt (21:28) and eigth-grader Hannah LoChiatto (21:34) rounded out the squad’s non-scoring positions.
