2007 Cross Country Preview
By Joe Reardon

After a hot summer’s worth of training and an autumn of dual meets, and a handful of invitationals, the 32 best teams in the Bay State will wind up on the starting line of the Gardner Golf Course in November for the All-State championships. Eastern Massachusetts will not only be well represented on the rolling 2.9-mile layout, but barring injury, sickness or any other forces of nature, should come away with some impressive performances.

After an excruciating third in last year’s Div. 1 All-State championships behind Brockton and St. John’s of Shrewsbury, Brookline comes into this season as the overwhelming favorite to capture the team title that eluded them on the Northfield Mountain course. Led by Robert Gibson, who finished sixth last fall, the Warriors are loaded with talent and experience. Michael Burnstein, Elliot Lehane and Chris Mercurio are back, along with new additions Ryan Hardiman, a 4:34 miler last spring, and transfer David Wilson. Add Brendan Grove to the mix and Brookline, on paper, looks to be the toughest team in Massachusetts.

Glennon, though, knows the Warriors, the defending Bay State League champions, will have to run hard and smart on race day to beat the likes of Gloucester, Whitman-Hanson and Marshfield whom he believes are three of the biggest threats to Brookline copping a state title.

"Staying healthy is the big thing," said Glennon, now in his 12th overall season at Brookline. "We’re pretty deep. Most of these guys are pretty seasoned. They’ve been running at this level for a few years."

Glennon won’t look past defending champion Brockton either. Like Brookline with Gibson, the Boxers have an elite No. 1 harrier in Carlos Montrond. Look for one of the talented speedsters to come away with the win at Gardner. "They’re the two best," said Glennon. "They can be mentioned in the same breath."

Mansfield graduated individual champion Ryan Collins, but the Hornets return four of their top harriers. Captains Andrew Erwin and Mike Bolea, along with Kevin Meagher, look to be the Mansfield’s top-three runners, while Pat McGowan and Rod Grimes should compete for the third and fourth position. Head coach Julie Collins also has a strong contingent of 16 freshman runners.

"Our top three are very good," said Collins. "It’ll be interesting to see who steps up for that fourth spot."

The Hornets’ primary goal is to repeat as Hockomock League champion and "get as close to that EMass Div. 2 title as possible."

Andrew Wortham, Cameron Fen, John Beck and Ben Finch pace what looks to be a tough Newton South team. Led by Montrond, defending champion Brockton should get stronger as the season goes on, while St. John’s Prep, Peabody, Gloucester, Marshfield and Xaverian are focused on qualifying for the All-State meet after strong seasons in 2006.

Whitman-Hanson coach Kevin Black has never been big on pre-season rankings. Now in his 30th season at the Panthers’ helm, Black is pleased with the progress of his team, but until it runs a race, he’s not about to rank his club against those across the state.

"We haven’t done a thing yet," said Black, who has 19 runners on this year’s team. "Our main competition is ourselves and working on the things we need to improve on. Don’t forget, Whitman-Hanson has never won a state title. We’ve been second a lot. We’re really going to rely on our top seven."

The Panthers do have a formidable lineup in twins Peter and Kevin Gilmore, Travis Wright, Craig Mitchell and Pat Egan. First-year runner Pat Taft is "very competitive" but will need several races to get a feel for the sport. Matt Galewski rounds out the top-seven Panther harriers.

In Div. 2, Swampscott would like nothing more than to go on a roll similar to last season when the Big Blue defeated Marbledhead in a dual meet and built momentum right through victories at EMASS Div. 4 and the all-state meet. Head coach Dom Finelli has four of his top-seven harriers back and a combined 70 runners between the boys and girls teams.

"We should be pretty tough, but you never know because of injuries," said Finelli. "Hopefully we’ll have a shot at it. Hopedale and Hamilton-Wenham will be tough."

Swampscott has five strong harriers in Sam Rakoc, Chris Heller, Dan Rakoc, James Keeter and Andrew Keeter. Finelli is concentrating on having the team run as a pack and keeping up its mileage so early in the season. He also wants to develop the younger runners, who could wind up playing a big part in the team’s success.

Swampscott’s first big meet comes on Oct. 6 at the Thetford Academy Invitational. The Big Blue finished fourth last fall. All meets this year, though, are stepping stones to the all-state meet. "Two years ago was the first time we qualified in 19 years," Finelli said. "Last year the kids got a little stronger and went on a ride. That was the key last year. We had a good group of athletes."

Oliver Ames fields strong boys and girls teams in the always deep Hockomock League. The male harriers will be focusing on making it to all-states behind Mike Moverman, Jake Marcus and Brian Cohen.

Dennis-Yarmouth’s girls could be the most dangerous team in Div. 1 even with Lincoln-Sudbury being the consensus favorite to capture the all-state title. Colleen Wetherbee is currently running for North Carolina and Jen Muse is at Boston College, but Jim Hoar’s squad still has a wealth of talent on his roster.

Caitlyn Crosby, who carried the Dolphins last year when Wetherbee was injured, should be one of the favorites, to capture the individual Div. 1 title in what looks to be a wide-open field. Crosby finished fourth last year at Northfield and gained a ton of experience along the way. "Carrying the team helped her confidence and also helped our team this year," said Hoar.

Megan Barry (16th last year as a freshman) gives Dennis-Yarmouth a strong 1-2 punch. Hoar said Wetherbee took Barry "under her wing" last fall and built up her confidence. So far, Barry has looked great during workouts and should be even tougher to beat than she was her rookie year. Molly Geary, Natalie Ferro, Sarah Burke and Chelsea Miller give the Dolphins an added punch.

The Dolphins won’t have to wait until the invitational meets to go up against quality competition with tough Whitman-Hanson and Marshfield squads on their dual-meet schedule. Hoar is prepping the team for November and gearing it for the best possible chance to defend its title. "Last year we had Colleen and we knew we could do it.," said Hoar. "This year, there is a question mark. I think we’re going to be quiet underdogs."

As much as he’d like them to be, there’s no way Chris Tarello’s Lincoln-Sudbury girls can pose as underdogs this fall. Second to Dennis-Yarmouth at the all-state meet a year ago, the Warriors have their top-seven harriers back and have twice as much depth. The experience factor can’t be overlooked either. "Most of our top seven last year were track kids coming out for cross country for the first time," said Tarello, Lincoln-Sudbury’s third-year coach. "It’s nice to have a year under our belt."

Dana Jamieson, who finished third last year, should be one of the favorites and has more speed than any of the other contenders. Emily Mepham has improved significantly after taking 15th in 2006. Lincoln-Sudbury’s lineup gets truly scary after the top two with a dozen runners contending for the next five varsity slots. Rachael Griffin, Jess Griffin, Molly Binder, Ellie Hylton and Claire Arthur have the inside edge at this point.

Tarello, though, won’t allow the Warriors to believe the season will be a stroll. "We’re not taking anything for granted," he said. "That’s our number-one philosophy. We approach everyone very seriously.

"People can consider us favorites to do it, but I can’t see how when we haven’t won a state championship yet."

Despite graduating its top-two finishers Newton South has experience with five runners - Kelsey Karys, Nina Slote, Sonya Freeman, Hannah Westbrook and Melanie Fineman - who competed in the state championship. Weymouth will be led by Kristen Mahoney, who had a breakthrough season last fall.

The girls Div. 2 field looks to be the most competitive with eight of the top-10 finishers back this season. The defending champion Bromfield School returns a rock-solid squad, led by the defending individual champion, Emily Jones. Triton will be paced by last year’s runner-up to Jones, Keely Maguire. Concord-Carlisle could be the sleeper in the division with Ginny Kessler, Blair Robinson, Melanie Fienan, Nina Slote and Carol Kimball-Katz pacing a consistent, tough squad.

Third-place finisher of a year ago, Jenna Davidner, paces an Oliver Ames team that includes a wealth of experience. Julie Binney, Jess Pickett, Kerry Pickett, Noelle Lamoio and Kathryn Chase. Wellesley has its pick of runners to step in case of an injury or sickness. The Redmen’s Anna Lukes, Matis Gnirke, Delana Varner, Ali Biswold, Rebecca Salzman, Audrey Eisenmenger and Sarah O’Brien should challenge Newton South in the Bay State League on the way to the all-state meet.

Norwell returns its top seven runners, including a healthy Nicole Weiler, the Clippers’ No. 1 harrier two years ago and Tessa Vercollone will pace George Rose’s Sacred Heart squad.

Bishop Feehan is strong once again and should be a strong contender.