HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Greatness isn't achieved over night.  It isn't achieved over the course of a season or even a year.  It isn't achieved just because you improve your win/loss record or drop your personal best time.  Greatness is achieved through hard work, through progress made and lessons learned.  Greatness is achieved by always pushing to be better than you are and that's one of the best parts of our sport.  But to have a great team, or a great program or to leave a great legacy it's important to stop and remind ourselves where we came from.

This season the boys' and girls' teams have been at the top of their game with the boys currently at 8-2 and the girls at 10-0 and both teams coming off high finishes at the McIntyre Twilight Invitational just last weekend.  If the girls get an expected victory against Wellesley this coming Tuesday October 23rd, it will mark the first time in program history that the Lady Rockets will have won a Bay State Conference Championship.  Equally impressive, the #17 ranked Needham boys http://ma.milesplit.com/articles/93770-top-25-coaches-poll-10-08-12 are well positioned to make a run at the All-State Championships next month, an honor that has not been achieved in 28 years!

Through a bit of research and uncovering of results, it appears that NHS cross country used to be a powerhouse program in year's past.  The boys' team won the Bay State Conference Championships in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1984 and qualified for All-States in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1984.  In 1970, the boys' team placed 2nd at All-States and in 1971 they won the Divisional Championships!  Needham has had numerous individual success stories too beginning with back-to-back Divisional Championships by Paul Keating in 1969 and 1970 at none other than Franklin Park.  Following the success of Keating, teammates Steve McMorrow and Tim Sullivan took the same titles in 1974 and 1975 respectively.  In recent memory, the Rockets have qualified four individuals for All-States; Charles Beard (class of '06), Sam Miller (class of '08), Dan Shields (class of '10) and Tommy Kelley (class of '14).

On the girls' side, the evidence is a little less clear.  According to Neil Duross (cross country and track coach at NHS from 1969 to 1984) "in 1974 we had one girl on the team... in 1979 several fairly good girl runners were on the team. The next several years the girls got better and better but they were never recognized as an official team."  MSTCA official Kevin O'Malley coached at Needham in the 80s and 90s and wrote the following: "The BSC was probably the last conference to add girl teams. The girls ran the JV races until I think Newton North and Brookline came into the league. Newton dominated and Walpole had some great teams.  Katie Masselam was the best NHS runner in XC as she made All-States twice, and was a Division 3 All-American at Middlebury."  More recently, four athletes from NHS have qualified individually for All-States; Emily Lipman (class of '08), Katina Russell (class of '10), Olivia Nolan (class of '12) and Caroline Turner (class of '13).  The last and possibly only girls' team from Needham to qualify for All-States was in the fall of 2010.

This fall has been a special one for the Rockets.  Both teams have worked hard, competed well and begun to see the fruits of their labor.  But there are still meets to be won and championships to be tackled before it's all said and done and I for one am excited to see what the future holds!

         Left to right: Mark Murray (Wellesley 2 mile record holder), Eric Kilburn (Needham 2 mile record holder), Steve Ridge (880 yard record holder) and Rich Benner (Wellesley 1 mile record holder).

Steve McMorrow (Needham 1 mile record holder) and Rich Benner in 1972 Cross Country Dual Meet @ Wellesley

Needham's Tim Sullivan and Wellesley's Paul Murray

Tim Sullivan of Needham leading  the Bay State Conference Championships in 1977 - Between '73 and '77 Needham only lost 3 XC meets.  Tim only lost one dual meet from his sophmore to senior years.

Undefeated Needham 1975 - In Fall 1975 Needham went 1, 2, 4, 6 at the conference meet with Scott Walters, Tim Sullivan, Chris Laucks, and Kevin McMorrow. At Divisionals they went 1, 6, 12, 20 with Sullivan, Walters, Laucks and Kevin McMorrow.

Photos courtesy of Rich Benner