The Boys Cross Country team started their season with wins against both Norwood and Dedham, but difficult losses against Brookline and Wellesley. The Rebel boys knew the toughest competition of their Cross Country season would be Wellesley. On September 20, Wellesley came fully prepared with their top four varsity boys all running sub 14:10 for the 2.57 meter race. The Rebels, on the other hand lacked depth on the varsity side. Senior Captain Sean Herlihy said, “I still think we did well, we had people like Mike Orsi and Kevin Delaney step up. Wellesley is a better team than us, but we still need to work more and get a tighter pack.”
At the start of the race the top varsity boys, Herlihy and junior Anthony DiVirgilio led the first pack with senior Kevin Delaney, and junior Jon Kelland trailing a few steps behind. The top four Wellesley runners stuck with the lead pack for the first inner loop. By the time the Rebels reached the second loop, the top four Wellesley boys led the pack. Eventually the Wellesley pack sped up and began to take off ahead of the other runners.
Herlihy and DiVirgilio held their own knowing the Wellesley Raiders were in to far of a grasp. Sophomores Mike Orsi, and Joe Keough along with Delaney and Kelland formed a second pack behind Herlihy and DiVirgilio. With only a mile to go, Herlihy broke from DiVirgilio. DiVirgilio said, “Well we had a minute in between our top guys, which isn’t too bad, but we need to get that pack further forward.” That being said, Herlihy finished fifth overall, and first for the Rebels with a PR time of 14:13. Herlihy PR’ed by over 50 seconds, which proves his hard work and determination to be the number one runner for the Rebels. DiVirgilio finished second for Walpole with a time of 14:24. Delaney finished third with a PR time of 14.37. Orsi had one of his best races, finishing fourth with a PR of 14:44, while Keough trailed with 14:50 to finish fifth for the boys. The Raiders first runner, Daniel Palladino finished with a 13:57. The Rebels lost to the Raiders 18-37.
In the junior varsity race of 1.78 miles, several Walpole boys led the race. Sophomores Bryan Kelleher and John Montanorro stole first and second, with times of 10:42 and 10:47. Junior Chris Barajas took third (10:50) while sophomore Declan Coen ran fourth (10:52).
With an even record of 2-2 with the first two meets of the season, the Rebels seek optimism through each others encouragement. With Milton approaching on Thursday September 27 at Houghton’s Pond, Walpole is working even harder to hopefully place second in the Herget behind Wellesley.
