Saturday November 10th members of the boys' and girls' cross country teams will travel to the Wrentham Developmental Center to compete in the Eastern Massachusetts Division 2 Championships. Historically this meet has been held at Franklin Park in Boston but the city closed the park to all activities this fall for a much needed renovation and so the MIAA and MSTCA has chosen to embrace the Developmental Center as their new home for the first installment of postseason competition. It is at this divisional meet that teams and individuals may qualify for the All-State Championship held later this month at Northfield Mountain. Both boys' and girls' teams hope to place in the top four in their division to secure a spot at All-States.
For the boys, the division appears to be fairly wide open with Mansfield, Chelmsford, Lincoln-Sudbury, Cambridge Rindge and Latin and Billerica all vying for one of the coveted top spots. Mansfield a perennial powerhouse had appeared to be in a down year but is recently coming off a decisive win at the Hockomock League Championships just one week ago. The Hornets finished 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 17th to score just 42 points to runner-up Oliver Ames' 79 with a five man average time of 16:47 and a spread of just 42 seconds. Chelmsford could also be in the running for the title coming off a strong second place finish at the Merrimack League Championships behind MA #1 ranked Lowell. The last time the Rockets qualified for the All-State Championships was 1984 and this year they stand a very legitimate chance of making it back to the big dance. Coming off a great regular season, the Rockets' most notable big meet performance came on October 13th at the Bob McIntyre Twilight meet where they finished 3rd, averaging 16:44 for their top five and defeated Cambridge Rindge and Latin by a mere two points. The division 2 race should be a shoot-out.
On the distaff side, there are really only two teams on paper that stand a chance at a title. Year in and year out the Lincoln-Sudbury girls have proven they have what it takes to win. After loosing a close race with Masconomet last year, the Warriors are out for redemption. This year's squad has been relatively quiet on the invitational front save for a win in the varsity "F" race at the prestigious Reebok Manhattan Invitational at storied Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. But where Lincoln-Sudbury appears to be the favorite going into Divisionals, the Needham Rockets look to be the only team within striking distance. Each team has its own strengths with the battle for divisional supremacy shaping up to be a doozy. Other teams on the bubble to qualify for All-States are Chelmsford, Franklin and Masconomet.
Race Schedule:
9:00 a.m. Girls' D6
9:25 a.m. Girls' D5
9:50 a.m. Girls' D4
10:20 a.m. Boys' D6
10:45 a.m. Boys' D5
11:10 a.m. Boys' D4
(Break)
12:30 p.m. Girls' D3
12:55 p.m. Girls' D2
1:20 p.m. Girls' D1
1:50 p.m. Boys' D3
2:15 p.m. Boys' D2
2:40 p.m. Boys' D1
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