Darrah Reigns in the Rain
Mashpee sophomore cruises to Hockomock win

By Joe Reardon

WRENTHAM - Max Darrah achieved the cross country equivalent of having his cake and eating it too at yesterday’s Hockomock League Invitational.

With Tuesday’s South Shore League meet looming, the Mashpee sophomore wanted to win the Division 2 race, but expend the least amount of energy as possible copping the first-place trophy over the rain-soaked 3.1-mile Wrentham Developmental Center course.

He accomplished his goal with amazing ease in the rain.

Darrah and runner-up Shawn Geary of Foxboro (17 minutes, 29.51 seconds) passed the first mile in a slowish 5:18 before Darrah surged into the lead on a small hill at the halfway mark. He cruised the rest of the way for an easy 17:14.04 victory.

Darrah, who was sixth in last Saturday’s Div. 2 race at the Catholic Memorial Invitational, had no intention of getting pulled into a fast first mile, even if it meant trailing Geary early.

“If he had pushed a little bit the first mile, I was going to stay back,” said Darrah.

“I really like this course. This finish is a little tough on those roller-coaster hills. You just have to push through it.”

The Div. 1 girls race came down to a sprint finish between Whitman-Hanson’s Jill Alves and Molly Shanley of Marshfield. The two harriers broke from a six-runner pack just past the mile and wound up trading the lead over the final 200 yards, where Alves edged Shanley for the win in 19:46.07. Shanley posted her second runner-up finish in a week with her 19:47.14. Marshfield’s No. 1 harrier was runner-up to Haverhill’s Christine McNaughton in the Div. 1 race at the Catholic Memorial Invitational.

Alves stayed at the back of the pack through the opening mile, preferring to let the other runners set the pace.

“I wanted to be somewhere around the lead,” she said. “I knew I’d be battling Molly for (the win). When I was trying to push the pace, Molly came up to me and we broke away a little bit.”

Whitman-Hanson placed five runners in the top 10 to easily win the team title with 26 points.

North Attleboro’s Nick Wade had the fastest time of the day (16:33.47) in winning the Div. 1 boys race. Wade outlasted Franklin’s duo of Frank May (16:36.49) and John Dacey (16:43.88), who finished second and third. The Panthers claimed the team championship, easily defeating King Philip.

Sacred Heart captured the first two places and wound up with a narrow victory over Martha’s Vineyard in Div. 2 girls. Norwell was third with 77.

Winner Tessa Vercollone of Sacred Heart battled cramps in her shoulder but was able to stick with her usual strategy of staying with the leader through the mile before making a move. Vercollone began to move away from runner-up Hailey Cuomo (21:04.98) shortly after and crossed the finish line in 20:54.84.

“I luckily kept (the pace up),” Vercollone said. “My goal coming in today was winning.”