Massachusetts State Meet
11/20/99 at Northfield MA
Colangelo leads Gloucester to
Massachusetts Division 1 State Title
Graves fronts Mohawk "savage" attack in Division 2
by Mike Atwood
Northfield- Tristan Colangelo saved his devastating kick for the final
100 meters of today's Division 1 State finals here, accelerating away from
Marshfield's Matt Edmund and St. John's Shrewsbury's Jon Drappi, to lead a
solid squad of harriers from Gloucester to a 47 point total victory.
Gloucester, who has been a dominate force in Mass. cross-country in recent
years, held off the strong efforts of Catholic powers St. John's Shrewsbury
(70) and St. John's Prep of Danvers (86).
The Gloucester 1-4-6-9-27 (team scoring) attack was unstoppable. Junior
Josh Palazola (4), sophomore Sean Murphy(7), and senior Shawn Milne (12) came
through with championship performances that broke up St. John's 3-7-15-16-29
effort.
The rugged terrain of Northfield's cross-country recreational facility
challenged all teams and individuals today The mountain course is
essentially an uphill battle for the first mile and rolling hills and
downhills the rest of the way, except for a devastating "gut" hill in the
last 1/2 mile that put many runners out of contention today. The course, in
many competitors' opinions, was much more challenging than the old route that
saw the likes of Catholic Memorial's George Grant (15:42-1984) and
Brookline's Jon Riley run under the 16:00 mark. The two courses are like
comparing apples and oranges; this course is tough and certainly not
conducive to fast times like Boston's Franklin Park or Gardner's Municpal
Golf course. The 60 degree weather also challenged most of the field on this
unseasonably warm Western Massachusett's fall day.
Colangelo's 16:02 was the best time of the day leading Edmund and Drappi
under 16:10. Josh Bashard of Somerville looked strong with his 4th
place-16:20 finish. Individuals are removed from scoring at the end of the
meet in order to decide team totals.
Eastern Mass. Division 3 champions, King Philip (Wrentham), came out to
Northfield to take down the Western Mass. power Mohawk and almost did.
However, in the end it was Mohawk Regional, who held off the Warriors in a
brilliant 70-76 battle. Neil Graves decided his 16:47 run in last week's
Western Mass race was not fast enough, so he took off on the field and held a
12 second lead at two miles. His finish of 16:23 was an excellent solo
effort and Division 3 EMass Champ. Nick Decoste of Duxbury followed in 16:39.
Mohawk placed 1-8-12-19-30 to KP's 3-7-16-21-29. The reborn Aaron
Affarian (injured for most of October) was fifth in 16:45 and teammate Matt
Pieroway was 12th in 17:09 but the Mohawk attack continued with Mohawk's John
Burnham finishing on Pieroway's tails in 13th.
Emass Div. 3 runner-up and defending state champs Oliver Ames (3rd -115)
had a tough day at the mountain. Adam Paicos led the effort with an
excellent 8th place finish and super-sophomore Rob Santorro was 15th in 17:12
( Emass Div 3 runner-up to Decoste last week) Brother Steve Santorro came in
18th but it just wasn't enough today. Coach Paul Carr, who led the Tigers
over the past 9 years ,left this year to coach at Wheaton College. Bishop
Feehan, a consistent state power, finished fourth, surprising many teams
today. Junior Pat Ward led the Shamrock's effort, running himself to the
point of sickness.
Nat Brown of Wellsley and Seekonk's Rob Welch finished in the 4-5
positions in 16:47 and 16:51 leading Affarian and Murdock's Gilman under
17:00.
Shalane Flanagan of Marblehead won the girls' Division title in a time of
17:54 that made many of the boys' wonder if she would beat their time today.
Molly Landreth of Newburyport followed in second with a time of 18:47.
Boys Division 1: 1) Colangelo, Gloucester, 16:02 2) Matt Edmund,
Marshfield, 16:04 3) Jon Drappi, St. John's (S), 16:08 4) Josh Bashard,
Somerville, 16:20 5) Josh Palazola, Gloucester, 16:29 6) Jarred Showemaker,
Lincoln-Sudbury, 16:35 7) Sean Murphy, Gloucester, 16:36 8) Byron Gatrell,
BC High, 16:38 9) Cazavelan, Pittsfield, 16:45 10) Mike Ahern, St. John's
(S), 16:46 11) Todd Glew, St. John's (D), 16:48 12) Shawn Milne, Gloucester,
16:49 13) Markey, Cathedral, 16:51 14) Pete Chalane, St. John's (D),16:52
15) Dave O'Graddy, Whitman-Hanson, 16:53
Boys Division 2: 1) Neil Graves, Murdock, 16:23 2) Nick Decoste, Duxbury,
16:39 3) Nat Brown, Wellesley, 16:47 4) Rob Welch , Seekonk, 16:51 5)
Aaron Afrarian, King Philip, 16:54 6) Jon Gilman, Murdock, 16:56 7) Jeff
Engberg, Whitensville-Christian, 17:00 8) Adam Paicos, Oliver Ames, 17:02
9) Fraioli, Auburn, 17:03 10) Matt Pimental, Austin Prep, 17:06 11)
Justin Brown, Saugus, 17:07 12) Matt Pieroway, King Philip , 17:09 13)
Burnham, Mohawk 17:09 14) Sean McKeon, Millbury, 17:10 15) Rob Santorro,
Oliver Ames, 17:12