The Bromfield boys cross-country team wrapped up a high-powered week with several strong finishes at the 63rd Annual Wachusett Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 2. The Trojans lined up for the 5-kilometer race just three days after adding a 16-47 win against Quabbin Regional High School to their dual-meet season record.
The Wednesday, Sept. 29, meet against Quabbin was the Trojans’ last time on their home course this season, and the boys raced aggressively. Thirteen runners earned personal-best times, and the team clinched nine of the top 10 spots.
Senior captain Julian Iverson led the boys in 18 minutes, 20 seconds, knocking 11 seconds off his previous best 5-kilometer time, which he ran as a sophomore on the notoriously quick Cape Cod Fairgrounds course at the Twilight Invitational. Close on his heels was sophomore Jack Stahl in 18:32, earning second place and knocking 31 seconds off his previous personal best. In third and fourth were eighth-grader Harrison Binnick and senior Nick Russo, clocking 18:50 and 18:54, respectively. Eighth-grader Christian Johannesen brought in the team’s final points with his sixth-place finish in 19:17. Sophomore Diesel Whitten (19:22) was seventh, and seventh-grader Ben McWaters (19:37) was eighth.
Coach Marisa Steele attributes the team-wide improvements to work the boys put in over the summer. She said the majority of the personal records came from athletes who ran diligently in the off-season. “There is no substitute for consistent training if you want to progress in this sport,” she explained. The remainder of the improvements came from runners who are new to the team. Improvements are more common among rookie runners, she said, “because they are starting from scratch.”
The Trojans also celebrated senior day on Wednesday, a tradition honoring the last time graduating team members will race on their home course. Zach Schoenberg, Aidan Long, Cam Milliken, Russo, and Iverson were recognized after the meet.
The boys had only a few days to rest before lacing up their spikes once again Saturday afternoon at Wachusett Regional High School. The invitational’s small-school division attracted a sparse field, with only three teams in the boys varsity race, but that didn’t stop Bromfield’s runners from competing at their best.
Iverson won the 5-kilometer race in 18:23, and Stahl joined him among the top five, earning fourth with 19:00. Russo was seventh in 19:13, followed by Whitten (20:14) in 12th. Sophomore Demetrios Kekis took 16th in 20:57, and junior Shaan Patel (21:00) crossed seconds behind him in 17th. The team score of 34 landed them in second behind Hopedale High School (26).
Steele was pleased with the team’s performance against Hopedale, which is consistently among the top teams in the central Massachusetts small-school division. A few of Bromfield’s usual scoring members ran in a separate middle school race. “If you factor in our middle school runners, we should be able to hold our own against Hopedale when we get to the [MIAA] Division 3 C Sectional Championships,” Steele said. If so, the team has a good shot at qualifying for the state championship meet.
Saturday’s middle school race had a larger field, with seven teams and 81 competitors. Bromfield won the 1.7-mile race with 27 points, led by Binnick’s first-place performance with a time of 9:40. Johannesen was third with 9:54, and McWaters (10:02) was close behind in fourth. Eighth-grader Liam Kemeza was sixth in 10:12, and sixth-grader Kai Kemeza took 22nd with 11:43 to close out the team’s score. Sixth-graders Holden Terwilliger and Cole Dandridge ran 12:08 and 12:10, respectively, to claim 31st and 33rd.
Russo took second in the freshman race, running the 5-kilometer course in 19:28. Behind him were teammates Adrian Erdogus-Brady (28:01) and Ralph Adams (29:18) in 47th and 49th.
In the junior varsity race, Schoenberg was 10th in 22:23, and junior John Zobbi was 14th (24:22). Milliken ran 24:47 for 15th, while sophomore Yaxi Li took 16th in 27:25.
While the week may have been a confidence boost for the Trojan boys, they faced a tough competitor in their last meet of the season, Oct. 6, against Tyngsborough High School. In a recent poll released by the Massachusetts State Track Association, Tyngsborough’s boys team was ranked fourth in Division 3, behind Bishop Stang High School, the Parker Charter Essential School, and Weston High School. Ahead of the meet, Steele said she was looking forward to the close matchup, which will determine the Midland-Wachusett Division C standings going into the league meet in October. Results were not available as of press time.
