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North Andover Scarlet Knights Boys Cross Country '17

Sat, Nov 11, 2017 11:00 AM @ King Philip
Team Final
Andover 0
Central Catholic 0
Haverhill 0
at King Philip 0
North Andover 0
Pentucket 1
Methuen 9

Champion Sachems devour competition

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WRENTHAM — Next week, the Capital Grille! 
Coach Darrel Cox and the Pentucket boys cross country team had the time of their lives at Fuddruckers in Reading, celebrating another championship.
This was big ... the Eastern Mass. Division 5 title.
"If we win (Division 2) All-States, we'll go to some place real nice," said Cox.
The boys deserve wherever they want to go after what Cox called "the highlight of my career, absolutely."
Cox is in his 13th year at Pentucket and "about his 23rd year" as a cross country coach overall.
Pentucket outdueled Norwell by a wafer-thin 3-point margin (83-86) with Cape Ann League rival Triton in third (114 points).
Norwell went 1-2 over the 3.1-mile Wrentham Development Center course. But after the big 2 of Steven O'Driscoll (16:14.51) and Andrew Corbett (16:19.77), the Clippers couldn't match the Sachems' depth and balance.
The five scorers were: 3. Peter Lopatta 16:22.45, 7. Sam Stys 16:34.70, 12. Nick Murphy 16:51.87, 30. David Gangemi 17:27.40, 31. Colin Costa 17:28.37
Cox (or the Pentucket Boosters) had better be saving up because this group could be eating a lot of celebratory meals in the upcoming years. Lopata, Stys and Gangemi are sophomores and Costa is a freshman. Murphy is a senior but the 31st and 32nd runners in the 165-runner/24-team field were Sachem juniors Will Coppola (17:31.00) and Anthony Accardi (17:31.21).
Eagle-Tribune records reveal the Sachem boys last won an EMass title a quarter century ago. That was the EMass. D4 championship team in 1992. Back then there were only four divisions. 
Cox gave special kudos to Stys and Murphy.
Stys had placed sixth at the Cape Ann League meet (although the CAL is a terrific cross country league) and now took seventh in a major EMass. meet.
"Sam ran the race of his life," said Cox. "The sixth in the league was the second best of his life."
As for Murphy, Cox said, "Nick sacrificed in the early-season races. He was clear-cut No. 1. He'd stay back and run with them (the younger runners) and give them more and more confidence. He's not downtrodden. He's happy for them."
Next week the D2 State Meet is back in Wrentham.
Coach, bring your wallet.

Game Statistics:

at Wrentham (3.1 miles)

EMass. Division 1 team scores (25 teams): Lowell 66, Newton North 101, Lexington 102, 9. Methuen 271, 20. Haverhill 585, 21. Andover 590, 24. Lawrence 758 

Winner and top area finishers: 1. Tristan Shelgren (SJP) 15l14.75, 27. Keith May (Hav) 16:36.62, 30. Sam Cook (Methuen) 16:38.23, 47. Eric Salvo (Methuen) 16:55.17, 49. Alan Cook (Methuen) 16:56.54, 62. Devin Connell (Andover) 17:09.08, 67. Alexander Ellis (Methuen) 17:14.79, 78. Xavier Metivier (Methuen) 17:19.59, 86. Jacob St. Onge (Methuen) 17:25.58, 95. Koseph Bozek (Methuen) 17:33.49

 

EMass. Division 2 team scores (27 teams): Wellesley 68, Concord-Carlisle 84, Marshfield 147, 10. Central Catholic 271, 15; 15. North Andover 389

Winner and top area finishers: 1.Ryan Oosting (Arlington) 15:51.52, 19. Cam Leonard (CC) 16:24.95, 27. Evan Fagan (CC) 16:37.06, 28. Jack Bicksler (NA) 16:39.82, 34. James Burger Pothier (CC) 16:48.39, 69. Kevin Wong (NA) 17:30.39, 83. Mike Blanchard (CC) 17:46.24, 89. Raj Koorapaty (NA) 17:48.62, , 101. Will Ferguson (NA) 18:00.11, 102. John Conrad (NA) 18:00.12

EMass. Division 3 team scores (26 teams): Wakefield 48, Pembroke 61, Tewksbury 127, 20. Whittier 611, 24. Gr. Lawrence 716

Winner and top area finishers: 1. Matt Greatorex (Wakefield) 16:09.01, 73. Colin Dunn (Whittier) 17:52.23, 117. Eddie Adams (GLa) 18:40.58, 120. Youriy Buttrick (Whittier) 18:44.99135. Omar Abreu (GLa) 19:08.42, 137. Robert Lawrence (Whittier) 19:09.26

EMass. Division 5 (24 teams scored): 1. Pentucket 83, 2. Norwell 86, 3. Triton 114, 4. Seekonk 132, 5. Amesbury 178

Top area finishers (165 runners): 3. Peter Lopata (P) 16:22.45, 7. Sam Stys (P) 16:34.70, 9. Brian Abel (A) 16:46.68, 10. Tyler Stranc (T) 16:49.34, 12. Nick Murphy (P) 16:51.87, 14. Diego Fernandez (T) 16:56.17, 18. Liam Gay-Killeen (T) 17:04.31; 30. David Gangemi (P) 17:27.40, 31. Colin Costa (P) 17:28.37 

 

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