Uphill strategy works for Brogan
The last place Franklin’s Tyler Brogan wanted to be in the first two miles of the Varsity 1 race was setting the pace for the deep, talented field at yesterday’s 58th annual Catholic Memorial Invitational.
Brogan knew the chal- lenge the infamous Bear Cage Hill presented near the halfway mark of the 3.1-mile Franklin Park course and he had no intention of leading the cluster of runners up the 194-meter incline, even under perfect cool, breezy conditions.
Instead, Brogan opted to settle in the middle of the lead pack through a 5 minute, 1 second opening mile. He surged into his first lead of the race coming out of The Wilderness portion of the fabled layout with 600 meters left and outkicked teammate Michael Hagen for a commanding win in 16:16. Hagen was a second back in 16:17 and Peabody’s Claudio Rocha finished a strong third in 16:21.
Brogan knew running conservatively at the start was the prudent way to go.
“It was tiring at the start,” he said. “The pace was a little fast, but I feel like I separated that top group pretty quickly. I tend to not lead. I’m more of a sit and kick type of runner. Especially if you’re going up that (Bear Cage) hill it’s a pretty tough thing to do.”
The Panthers were easy winners in the team competition with its five scoring harriers all in the top 20. Franklin finished with 41 points to easily defeat runner-up Pinkerton Academy of
New Hampshire (61).
“Even with a (team) win we know we can still do better,” said Brogan.
The battle up front in the Varsity 2 race was never in doubt as Arlington Catholic’s Sean Kay held a 10-meter lead at the mile (5:10) and lengthened as he whipped past the 2-mile mark (10:25) with a 21-second lead. Kay pushed hard over the final 600 for the 16:25 win.
“I took it out the first mile and it hurt,” he said. “I wanted to stay in second but the pace slowed down. The hill was pretty big and it took a lot out of me. I didn’t know what the competition would be (yesterday). I just wanted to do my best.”
Julie Collins’ Mansfield team obliterated the field with an immense showing up front. Jason Windvogel captured the silver medal in 16:46. He was followed by teammates Patrick Heavey (fifth, 16:54), Paxton Howard (sixth, 16:56), Mike Mullahy (eighth, 17:03) and Cullen Lancaster (ninth, 17:24).
Arianna Braccio of Nashua North had Lexington’s Danna Ofek to contend with most of the girls varsity race and she held onto a 19:32 victory. Ofek was a strong second with her 19:39.
Braccio looked to be in command the first mile (5:48) and only felt stronger as the race went on. By 2 miles (12:18) she had put some daylight between herself and Ofek as she sprinted across the finish line. Lexington dominated the team competition, placing its top five girls in the top 20. The squad finished with 89 points, well ahead of Woburn’s 107.
Braccio, who was nipped at the line last year, was looking for her first win in the prestigious meet.
“Last year I was running in the lead the whole way and lost it so I was determined to win it this year,” said Braccio. “I wanted to go out fast and maintain first. It’s nothing new (running in front). I felt like I had a big lead but no lead is ever that safe so you have to be sure you have enough distance.” Arlington Catholic has a terrific youngster who dominated the freshman girls race. Seventh-grader Erin Moran, the Cougars’ top harrier, destroyed the field with a time of 12:53 over the 1.8-mile layout. On the boys’ side, Freddy Coleman of Methuen outdueled St. John’s Prep’s Colin Scarpola 10:33 to 10:38 for the victory.