LYNN — As a culminating event to the cross country regular season, Lynn high schools battled it out for one last race at Lynn Woods.
Hours later – well, more like minutes later – St. Mary’s came away with two pieces of hardware. But more than the victory, coach Tristan Smith was happy with the city event.
“We love our city,” Smith said. “We love our kids and the fact that we get to run cross country at Lynn Woods – an iconic place that has a lot of running history in it.”
Lynn Tech coach John Hogan couldn’t have agreed more.
“[It’s great] to work together all year and have something to shoot for at the end of the year when most teams are done,” Hogan said. “We’re still working for something.”
It’s also not about competition at the end of the day, according to Hogan.
“We all run up here, we pass each other in practice, [the runners] see each other after school, and I’m cheering just as hard for some other runners as my own because that’s what it’s all about,” Hogan said. “A lot of kids are happy no matter what place they came in and they’re just having a good time today.”
On the boys side, Lynn English finished right behind St. Mary’s as Eamonn McHale (19:38) and Ian De La Rosa (19:56) came in first and second place, respectively.
Although St. Mary’s didn’t have either of the top two finishers, Matthew Terrien (20:09), Matheus Mendez-Ave (20:24), Lucian Paula (21:10), and William Potter (21:13) took the 3-6 spots, leading the Spartans to victory.
Cristian Rodriguez (22:44) and Xavier Paula (22:54) also finished strong in 10th and 11th place to earn some points.
“For our guys to really come in, and in a cluster like that, especially the fact that those are the guys who we are taking to states on Saturday, really makes me optimistic,” Smith said.
As for the girls, St. Mary’s dominated the top 10, led by a first-place finish from Kelsey Kwiatek (24:11). She was followed closely by fellow Spartan Nina Lopes (8:11).
“Kelsey is in 9th grade; Nina’s in 8th grade. So, to have them already performing at this level, I’m excited for what happens Saturday at states,” Smith said. “If it’s anything like today, then we have a lot to be happy about.”
The Tech girls came in second place, led by a fifth-place finish from Faith Akinbami (27:05), ninth-place finish from Estrella Presinal (28:24), and 10th from Mildred Mendez (28:29).
English was led by Madisen McHale (4th; 26:38) on the girls’ side. Classical’s Brandon Sok (21:35; 8th) ran well for the boys, while Sarita Guzman Moral (28:09; 7th) did so for the girls.
“Everyone came to run today, which I loved. I’m really happy with the way everything went,” Smith said. “From the top kids, all the way to the kids who just started running a few months ago, I think everyone had a really good season.”
