By Michael Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
The rivalry between Needham and Wellesley is nothing new, as the two towns have battled it out on the gridiron, the court, and the track for decades.
In 2015, the latest chapter Rocket/Raider history was written when Wellesley handed the Needham boys cross-country team its only conference defeat (10-1). The Rockets are back in 2016 with a core group of returning athletes, determined to take home a Bay State Conference Championship and in the process, get a little revenge on their bitter rivals to the west.
Captaining the ship for the Rockets in 2016 will be four seniors: Kevin Quinn, Matt Mahoney, Will Cordonnier, and Steve Flanagan.
“Steve and Kevin led our team last season, so we have a solid one-two punch,” said head coach Christopher Van Cott. “We’ll need to rely on depth to win some of our closer meets, but I’m confident in our captains and the rest of our upperclassmen to step up and provide solid leadership to the rest of our bunch, and in turn, it should pay off with success in meets.”
Along with their captains, the Rockets will also be led by sophomore Cameron McLeod, who returns for his second varsity season after earning his way to a top-nine spot on the team as a freshman in 2015.
Also leading the Rockets in 2016 will be freshman, Ryan Collins, who had a top-ten finish in the Needham Fourth of July 5K.
Van Cott was short and to the point when discussing the team’s goals in 2016.
“Our number one goal for this season, obviously, is to perform as well as possible in the conference,” said Van Cott. “We have a bunch of key conference matchups to open up the season against teams like Brookline (September 14), Newton-North (September 28), before a big one against Wellesley in mid-October.”
As far as expectations go, Van Cott says that while the team is certainly proud of its back-to-back trips to the All-State meet the last two seasons, the program is eying bigger things in 2016.
“We had a 31-year dry spell without qualifying a team for All-States. If all goes well, we have the chance to qualify for a third consecutive year this season,” said Van Cott. “But at a certain point, you can’t be just happy with qualifying and you need to compete for a top finish. This team is hungry and our goals are set, now it is time to go out and perform and get the job done.”
