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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The Dover-Sherborn boys and girls cross country teams took to the course on Wednesday afternoon for a joint meet with TVL rivals Medway and Norton. The DS boys entered Wednesday’s meet winless against Norton since 2011. However, a strong collective effort guided the Raider boys to their first victory over the Lancers in five seasons as part of a 3-1 record on the day for DS.
Sophomore Oliver Fried, junior Scott Sirri, and sophomore Will Brown paced DS as the top-three finishers for the Raider boys. Freshmen Lucas Barnes placed fourth and Noah Guarini finished eighth. The Raider boys finished ahead of both Medway (26-33) and Norton (24-33), to earn the 2-0 sweep. The Raider girls, meanwhile, saw a strong collective performance result in a 1-1 split, prevailing 18-45 over Medway and falling in a close 23-32 battle with Norton.
Junior Scott Sirri (278) dashes to a top-three finish for DS.
DS sophomore Will Brown (288) digs deep to earn a top-three finish for DS on Wednesday.
Head coach Stephen Harte praised Barnes and senior Jacob Robin for edging out Norton’s No. 4 runner and giving the DS boys a big advantage in their overall score. Harte also says that Robin and sophomore Jacob Brown have shown great improvement this season.
“Jacob Brown and Jacob Robin are both showing excellent improvement over last season, they work hard,” said Harte. “Barnes and Robin just edged out Norton’s number-four guy today and gave us a little breathing room in the score.”
As for the overall performance from both the boys and the girls, Harte says that he could no be more proud of the effort shown by both teams.
“I was so pleased with their performance today. We showed determination and grit on the racecourse as evidenced by everyone fighting for position in the race. Every spot was contested,” said Harte. “The guys impressed me with their effort and willingness to dig deep in order to bring their performance to another level. We knew we were in for a battle with both Medway and Norton so to come out of it with two wins is outstanding.”
Oliver Fried (pictured) heads towards a top-finish for DS during Wednesday’s joint meet with Norton and Medway.
While the 3-1 day on Wednesday was certainly sweet, Harte says that both the DS boys and girls have a lot of work ahead of them this fall.
“This is our first win over Norton since 2011. We have a lot of work ahead of us as we prepare for the big meets in October but everyone is proud of what transpired today,” said Harte. “We are looking forward to getting out on our home course for the first time next week.”
