Times Staff
Thirty-eight runners from the O'Maley School in Gloucester added a proud chapter to their school's quarter-century-old cross country program by competing in the state's first-ever middle school championships, held last Saturday at Willard Field in Devens, Mass.
The meet drew 900 middle-school runners from 91 eastern, central and western Massachusetts' private, public, and charter schools, and featured separate boys and girls races in four categories: an eighth grade, seventh grade, fifth and sixth grade, and team championship division, the latter limited to 5 to 7 runners per school.
In the team championship division, the O'Maley boys placed third with 140 points in the 26-team, 182-runner field. An impressive feat considering that three of the team's top 5 runners competed despite having come down with the flu earlier in the week.
Brian Matos (11th), Calvin Kipruto (12th), Everest Crawford (24th), Victor Matos (29th) and Matt Lane (64th) posted the third best score behind R.J. Grey's (Acton-Boxboro) 109 and Mountain View's (Holden) 118 points. O'Maley's sixth and seventh finishers were Wyatt Ronan (68th) and Steve Gross (103rd).
In the girls team championship division, sixth graders Chloe Kenyon (26th) and Gina Ciarametaro (41st) combined with Corrine DeLouise (45th), Justina Catarino (58th) and Carren Jepchumba (60th) in scoring 230 points, good for 10th place overall in the 22-team, 154-runner field. Jen Nugent (68th) and Kacie Quinn (87th) were O'Maley's sixth and seventh runners.
O'Maley was also well represented in the earlier grade races, with Nicole Bauke (41st), Alicia Stuart (36th), Ethan Lally (97th), Drew Luster (68th), A.J. Rummel (66th) and Curtis Quinn (20th) in the eighth grade division; Briana Levie (32nd), Michelle Quinn (25th), Matt Ciatamitaro (40th), Cody Eaton (23rd) and Willie Pierce (37th) in the seventh grade division; and Noah Ashe ( 72nd), Liam Carney (71st), Cormac Flickenger ((40th), Matt Gatley (77th), Patrick Goss (69th), Mike Grella (29th), Eddie Mahoney (22nd), Matt Sawyer (96th), Jon Sawyer (87th), Charlie Sumner (37th), Zack Thompson (96th) and Kenneth Whitehead (88th) in the sixth grade division.
Despite the ill-timed flu bug that struck the boys team just days prior to the race, O'Maley coach Jim Munn had nothing but praise for all who took part in the historic state-wide event.
"Illness is something you can't control," the coach said. "Our girls were 10th-best in the state, and the fact that our boys went to the line under less-than-favorable conditions and did as well as they did (third overall), tells you a lot about the heart of this team.
"Cross country has been around for a long time, but unfortunately still too few people realize that this great sport even exists, never mind appreciate the opportunities it offers the young, especially on the middle school and high school levels. That's why events like this (the first state championships) and our own annual NEC middle school championship meet at Stage Fort Park are so important. It's been a real pleasure to watch so many of our O'Maley runners move up through the high school and college ranks over the years. This year's group will prove to be no exception."
