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By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The Medfield and Dover-Sherborn High cross country teams met at William E. McCarthy Memorial Fields at the bottom of Hospital Hill in Medfield on Thursday for their Tri-Valley League match.
The Warriors (4-2) and Raiders (3-3) renewed their storied athletic rivalry against one another with a fun and competitive race, as Medfield pulled out the overall victory (22-36).
At the start of the race, it was 65 degrees and cloudy, which most runners will tell you is the absolute perfect weather for cross-country and track. DS’s Peter Phelan placed first in the 2.9-mile trek with a time of 16:47. Phelan finished just ahead of Medfield’s top runner, John Churchill, who came in at 17:06.
Medfield also took home five other top-ten finishes with Mark Fitzpatrick (17:20) placing third, Mark Nevins (17:31) placing fourth, Ben Alford (17:39) at sixth, Jack McCormick in seventh (17:54), and Kyle Infantino (18:01) at eighth.
The Raiders, meanwhile, had three top-ten finishes outside of Phelan coming in first overall with Luis Parizeau (17:34) placing fifth, freshman Will Brown (18:18) coming in ninth, and Ricky Cullen (18:20) coming in tenth. Scott Sirri (18:29) also placed eleventh for the Raiders.
Medfield head coach Mike Kraemer praised his team for their hard fought efforts following the victory.
“Our top two guys today (Mark Fitzpatrick and John Churchill) ran better than they’ve ever run, it was awesome,” said Kraemer. “(Mark) Nevins was right at his personal record and I thought all of our guys competed their tails off today. Great weather, great competition, you can’t ask for much better than that.”
Kraemer also praised his team’s efforts in their training for the race as well.
“Our guys train very well,” said Kraemer. “Their hard work both in practice and on their own time the last few weeks have resulted in some good times today.”
While DS’s Phelan and Medfield’s Churchill may have absorbed most of the attention due to placing first and second, Kraemer states that the beauty of this sport is every runner’s competitiveness, no matter where they finish.
“That’s the fun thing. You get races at the front, in the middle, and in the back,” said Kraemer. “Each runner is competitive and is always trying to beat whoever is right there with them, its awesome to watch and be apart of.”
DS head coach Stephen Harte was happy with his squad’s performance as well following the match.
“I was very happy with the effort I saw out there on the course today,” said Harte. “Our guys were battling the Medfield runners and battling each other at the finish. The guys executed the game plan perfectly.”
Harte also says that he and his team are looking forward to the TVL Championship meet in the coming weeks.
“The TVL Championship on the 26th will be extremely competitive,” said Harte. “After two more weeks of training, I can guarantee that our guys will be vastly improved. Our 3-3 record may not show it, but we will be in the running for one of the top three spots at the championship meet.”
