The Bromfield boys cross-country team put up an admirable fight against Tyngsborough High School on a messy course Oct. 6 but ultimately fell 26-31 to the top-ranked Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 3 team. The race, hosted by Tyngsborough, was the final dual meet of the season and leaves the Trojans with a 3-2 record.
The team showed up ready for battle Wednesday, and, despite missing no. 2 runner Jack Stahl who was out sick, the Trojans didn’t go down quietly. Heading into the meet, Tyngsborough was ranked fourth in MIAA Division 3 by a Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association poll, and, while Bromfield didn’t make the listing, Coach Marisa Steele said she was anticipating a close matchup. Not about to disappoint, the team placed sixth in the top 10, showing off impressive front-end power paired with the kind of depth that will serve it well at invitational and championship meets later this season.
Senior captain Julian Iverson, who has performed consistently throughout the season, paced a smart race, running in 18 minutes 31 seconds to come across the line in second place, and eighth-grader Harrison Binnick cruised the course in 19:07 for fifth.
Coming into the final 200 meters, senior Nick Russo accelerated, closing a large gap between him and the next runner but falling just short of catching Tyngsborough’s number four. The effort earned him a time of 19:14 for seventh place. Next in was eighth-grader Christian Johannesen (20:03) in eighth and freshman Ethan Russo, finalizing the team score with a ninth-place finish in 20:14. Backing up their teammates were seventh-grader Ben McWaters (20:19) and sophomore Diesel Whitten (20:24) in 10th and 11th.
The loss is the team’s second of the season. The Trojans previously fell to Littleton High School and bested Hudson High School, Murdock High School, and Quabbin Regional High School.
Steele said the meet highlights Bromfield’s depth, which she says is the team’s greatest asset this year. Seven Trojans crossed the line ahead of Tyngsborough’s fifth runner, a feat that typically puts a team in contention for the win.
With several middle-schoolers among the team’s top ranks, Bromfield also has the potential for impressive growth over the next few years. “The strength of our younger runners is really quite exciting,” said Steele. She compared Binnick and Johannesen to a Bromfield alumnus now running at Villanova, a Division 1 university with a competitive cross-country program. “I can’t wait to see how these runners develop over the rest of their high school careers,” Steele said.
Next up for the Trojans is the Twilight Invitational scheduled for Oct. 15. The boys will travel to the Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Falmouth to compete under the lights on one of the quickest 5K courses in the state.
