Molvar Preview:
1999 Massachusetts Boys
by John Molvar
revised 10/1
Individuals
1999 Mass HS XC Updated Preview (10/1/99)
Individuals
Tristan Colangelo has already won more combined
individual and team State Class/All State/New England
XC and track Titles than any runner in Massachusetts
history and he still has a year to go. Individually
or as part of a team or a relay he has 22 such titles
with a chance to rack up no less than 13 more
individual, relay and team championships. He will be
going for an unprecedented 4th New England individual
track title outdoors. If he winds up with anywhere
near a total of 35 remains to be seen but he could
establish a record that lasts an eternity.
Interestingly, he managed to win all these titles
during the heyday of Massachusetts distance running
which will be known as the
Riley/Mohamed/Powell/Sanchez era. How was this
possible? Many factors came together including
talent, coaching, a savage kick, being part of the
right team and often being in the right place at the
right time. One runner who could challenge him
individually is junior Said Ahmed of Boston English
who has run 1:52 for 800 and was 6th in the nationals
outdoors and won the Nationals indoors. Despite his
superior speed, he will have to run away from
Colangelo to beat him, because Colangelo will unleash
his devastating kick that Ahmed won’t be able to
match. Both runners are likely to obtain one of the
top 8 slots in the Footlocker regional meet which will
qualify them for the prestigious Footlocker Final.
There remains a big unanswered question. That
question is not how many titles he will win, but will
Colangelo be able to take his running up to the next
level and take on the very best runners in the country
at the Footlocker Final. Individually, that quest
will be the highlight of this XC season. After the 2
front runners, Colangelo’s teammate JR Josh Palazola
and Matt Emond of Marshfield are the only 2 other
runners who have a shot at the coveted top 8 spots in
the Footlocker Northeast Region. Emond ran 9:23 for 2
miles as a junior. Palazola made a big splash in his
first 2 years and is hungry for further success.
Other top runners include the unpredictable Josh
Barshard of Somerville, Geoff Atkinson of Norwell who
had a great XC season, then disappeared during track
season, and Steve Martella of St Johns (S). Some of
the best sophomores include Sean Murphy of Gloucester,
Todd Glew of St Johns (D) and Chad Foster of Westford
Academy. It is too early to know if any freshman will
emerge but one possibility is Joey Brancaleone of
Gloucester who is the last of the 3 brothers to run on
championship Gloucester teams.
Notes:
all times have been converted to 800, mile and 2 mile
times plus or minus 1 second
*-Junior
**-Soph
1 Tristan Colangelo, Gloucester (9.17,4.17)
2 *Said Ahmed, Boston English (1.52,4.18)
3 *Josh Palazola, Gloucester (9.40,4.29)
4 Matt Emond, Marshfield (9.23)
5 Geoff Atkinson, Norwell
6 Steve Martella, St John’s (s)
7 *Geoff Cronin, Millbury (4.29,1.59)
8 Josh Barshard, Somerville (9.34)
9 Byron Gartrell, BC High (9.52)
10 Jon Gilman, Murdock (4.28)
11 *Neil Graves, Mohawk (9.57)
12 Evan Hallquist, Murdock (4.28,9.57)
13 Mike Ahern St John’s (s) (4.24)
14 Andy Wood, Tantasqua (9.50)
15 Nick Decoste, Duxbury (9.47)
16 Ahmed Sharif-Noor, East Boston (4.29,1.59)
17 *Jordan Conover, Brookline (9.47)
18 Aaron Afarian, King Philip (4.27,9.49)
19 Mike killiam, Groton
20 Sam Ryerson, Cambridge (4.33)
21 Ian Joseph, Lexington (4.25)
22 Steve Santoro, Oliver Ames (9.48),4.30,1.59)
23 Paul Machado (out with mono), New Bedford (9.39)
24 *Brian Breslin, N. Quincy (10.14)
25 Shawn Milne, Gloucester
26 Brandon Rowe, Brookline (4.35)
27 Ben Pollack, Westford Academy (4.39)
28 Jarred Shoemaker, Lincoln-Sudbury (9.54)
29 Matt Thomas, Amesbury
30 Rich Downing, St John’s (S) (9.55)
31 Justin Williams, Groton
32 Jason Kismas, Saugus (9.50)
33 John Jacobson, Taunton (4.29)
34 *Steve Orr, Chelmsford
35 Justin Snair, Doherty
36 Rob Welch, Seekonk (9.57)
37 Shamus Brady, Arlington (4.32)
38 **Sean Murphy, Gloucester
39 **Todd Glew, St Johns (D) (9.57,4.39)
40 Jeremy Gersh, Westford Academy
41 Dave O’Graddy Whitman-Hanson
42 Brian McKenna, Cambridge (4.32)
43 *Jerome Thompson, New Bedford (4.32)
44 *Sean McKeon, Milbury
45 Matt Harvey, Westford Academy (4.46)
46 *Steve Meinelt, Masconomet, (4.35,10.07)
47 Pat O’Shaunnessey, Chelmsford (4.42)
48 **Ross Thoms, Gloucester
49 Andy Bentley, Oakmont (4.37)
50 Jessie Rykerson, Cambridge
51 Dennis Sheehan, St Johns (D)
52 Pat Reiche, Brocton
53 Nick Kotyk, Acton-Boxboro (1.56)
54 *Dan Moro Wachusett
55 ** ? , Cambridge (1.57,4.31)
56 Ian St George, N. Middlesex
57 Matt Giacoppo, Burlington
58 *Ben Peisia, Bromfield
59 Ryan Kearney, Tyngsboro (10.15)
60 *Tim Goulter, St Johns (D)
61 *Pete Cahalan, St Johns (D)
62 Bob Duffy, Stoneham
63 *Jim Sullivan, Wachusett
64 *Geoff Churchill, B-R
65 *Mike Palmero, Concord (2.00)
66 *Ryan Hammond, Whitman-Hanson
67 John Drappi, St Johns (S) (2.00)
68 Nat Brown, Wellesley
69 **Chad Foster, Westford Academy
70 Bobby Bolcome, Gloucester
71 **Rob Santoro, Oliver Ames (9.59,4.43)
72 *Jeff Barteloni, N. Quincy (10.07)
73 Matt Griego, Blackstone-Millvile
74 **Dave Hughson, N. Middlesex
75 Ryan Morin, B-R
76 **Dan Sullivan, Wachusett (4.55)
77 Ryan Mancini, Nashoba
78 Tim Hoey, Marshfield
79 John O’Neil, N. Reading (1.59)
80 Veigas ?
81 John Rossetti, Doherty
82 *Tom Williams, St Johns (s)
83 Matt P?, King Philip
84 *Jose Diaz, Brocton
85 *Ned Charpentier, New Bedford (4.45,10.20,54)
86 *Ian Hunt, Woburn
87 Joey Hickey, Hopedale
88 John Annand, Oliver Ames (10.17,4.50)
89 Neil Sullivan, Oliver Ames
90 **Adam Johnson, Oakmont
91 *Andy Keel, Milton (2.00)
92 ***Joey Brancaleone, Gloucester
93 ***Curt Jackman, Cambridege (4.45,10.33,2.11)
94 Adam Paicos, Oliver Ames
95 *Eric Smith, Gloucester
96 Jeff Crisp, Dedham
97 Mark Gulinallo, Abington
98 Joaquin Kilson, Fitchburg
99 Rich Ewenstein, Brookline (10.13)
100 *Kevin King, Doherty
101 ** Ryan Leger, Narragansett
102 Brendan Cronin, Saugus
103 Justin Brown, Saugus
104 **Dave King, Narragansett
105 Paul Colahan, St Johns (D)
106 Jeff Perry, King Philip
107 Frank Giliberti, St Johns (D)
108 Will Raymond, King Philip
Teams
Under the guidance of legendary coach Dave Dunsky,
Gloucester could win its 6th straight state title.
The bad news for the opposition is that last year was
the year to beat them. Last year they had no seniors
on the team and several of the youngsters they had to
count on got off to a very slow start early in the
season. In October they were only about the 5th best
team and looked extremely vulnerable. But coaches do
not become legends by always having talented,
experienced seniors who train well all summer show up
every year. Last year Dunsky won with all
inexperienced underclassman who didn’t run much during
the summer. If you couldn’t beat him last year, don’t
count on beating him this year. With the whole team
back and experienced they will be very tough to beat.
That said, one team looks very strong and could step
in if a wave of injuries hit Gloucester. St Johns
(S) lost a couple of key runners but had great depth
that they bring back this year. St Johns (S) is led
by front runners Martella and 4:24 miler Mike Ahern.
Scott Cody of Cambridge took only one year to
establish himself as one of the best coaches in Mass
and his team should be in the thick of things.
Chelmsford has its best team in several years and
could be in the hunt. Westford Academy has no front
runners at the state wide level but a strong pack of
young and inexperienced runners who are expected to
come on late in the season. Oliver Ames lost milers
Andy Powell (4.02) and Chris Johnson (4.14), but coach
Paul Carr has already proved he didn’t just get lucky
with Powell and his team will be good. King Philip,
led by Aaron Afarian, appears to be the best of the
rest. The biggest surprise this year will be Saugus.
For many years they were a perennial door mat but that
has all changed and they are now one of the best teams
in the state. Another program that was never a factor
that is on the rise is North Quincy.
1 Gloucester
2 St Johns (S)
3 Cambridge
4 Chelmsford
5 Westford Academy
6 Oliver Ames
7 King Philip
8 St Johns (D)
9 Brookline
10 Saugus
11 Doherty
12 Wachusett
13 Mohawk
14 Taconic
15 Whitman-Hanson
16 Marshfield
17 Barnstable
18 Milbury
19 Amherst
20 Murdock
21 Tantasqua
22 Bridgewater-Raynham
23 Lincoln-Sudbury
24 Lawrence
25 Oakmont
26 Stoneham
27 Lowell
28 N. Middlesex
29 Mt Greylock
30 Methuen
31 Atol
32 Bromfield
33 Narragansett
34 Groton
35 Hamilton-Wenham
36 Plymouth North
37 Pittsfield
38 Lexington
39 Peabody
40 Denis-Yarmouth
41 Bishop Connolly
42 Norwell
43 Milton
44 New Bedford
45 Silver Lake
46 Amesbury
47 North Quincy
48 Burlington
49 Wellesley
50 Brockton
51 Newton South
52 Natick
53 Central Catholic
54 Weston
55 Taunton
56 Shewsbury
57 BC High
Good luck to all this season and I would appreciate
your comments.
John Molvar
[email protected]
