Few surprises at CM Invitational
Chris Sullivan already has a 9:11 2-mile under his belt, but the Catholic Memorial junior is currently more interested in just what kind of time he is going to run over the 5K distance.
Sullivan wasn’t overly pleased with his time in the Silver race at Saturday’s 60th running of the Catholic Memorial Invitational at Franklin Park, but conditions weren’t overly ripe for a swift time.
Running in warm and somewhat breezy conditions over the 3.1-mile course, Sullivan took command from the gun and had a 20-yard lead 200 yards into the race. Sullivan was clear of the pack at the mile (4:59) and had a 35-second gap at 2-miles (10:25) on the way to the easy win in 16 minutes, 32 seconds. That time put him more than a minute ahead of teammate John Garvey (17:35) and Wyatt Burr of Bishop Fenwick (17:48).
Sullivan says his training is on schedule. “He’s a really good coach and works us hard,” Sullivan said of head coach John Finn. “I feel good. The 9:11 was a breakthrough race for me. I’m concentrating on my 5K times now and getting them faster at Wrentham (site of this year’s all-states).”
Catholic Memorial was an easy winner in the team competition. After Sullivan and Garvey, the Knights’ Michael Bane and Joseph Connolly locked up seventh and eighth and Dean Simmons was just outside the top 10 in 11th.
Pinkerton Academy’s Luke Brennan had challengers in close proximity in the early going, but a strong on the descent from Bear Cage Hill gave him the lead for good in the Red race. Brennan pulled away from Methuen’s Freddy Coleman for the 16:45 win. Coleman clocked a 16:59 for second and Lexington’s Graham Bracken clinched a bronze medal with his 17:21.
Brennan was surprised he wasn’t challenged more by anyone in the field. “The times here today were slower than they normally are,” said Brennan. “I don’t think the (warm) weather had anything to do with it. Every race at this time of the season I’d at least like to go for the win. I was confident in my ability to be strong in the Wilderness. There’s no one in there really cheering and it’s all mental. I just went to the arms and started to grind it out. I was only worried about guys coming up on me on the field because that’s where they can see you the whole time.”
Bracken rallied Lexington to the team title with 46 points to just edged out Pinkerton Academy’s 49 points.
Bishop Guertin’s MaryKate Finn was aggressive right off the line in the varsity girls’ race. And also like Sullivan, Finn picked up a lopsided victory, winning by 19 seconds in 19:32. The race for second was exhilarating as Summer Bejarano of Silver Lake and Methuen’s Miana Carabano both sprinted across the finish line in 19:51. Bejarano was awarded second in the photo finish.
Finn had no such drama at the finish. She was off quick at the line and tore through an opening mile in 5:45 with the chase pack nowhere in sight. “I wanted to go out fast,” said Finn. “I’ve never run here before and in my head I expected it to be super flat. It was a little hillier than I thought it was going to be. I wanted to get a PR, but I was like a minute off it. I get outkicked a lot and I really didn’t want that to happen so I continued to push.” Bishop Guertin’s 32 points were more than good enough to claim the team title.
Twin brothers Daniel and Andrew Byrne of Nashua South ran together for the first mile of the freshman race (5:10) before Daniel surged into the lead to capture the event in 10:50. Andrew never faltered in second just five seconds back.