Westford’s Bergeron on his way
He’ll lead Bay State trio to nationals
When Westford Academy senior Paul Bergeron flies out to San Diego in two weeks for the Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals, he’ll be joined by a pair of travel companions from the Bay State: Phillips Andover junior Tam Gavenas and Westford junior teammate Jack Graffeo.
Bergeron will lead the contingent after he legged out a third-place finish Saturday at the Northeast Regional championship, covering Franklin Park’s historic 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 2 seconds. Gavenas was fourth (15:07) and Graffeo eighth (15:11) to finish among the top 10 who punched their ticket to San Diego.
The cold racing conditions may have been daunting for some runners, but the Stanford-bound Bergeron wasn’t deterred from putting forth his best effort.
“It’s a little chilly,” he said, “but it’s actually a nice day once you get [in] the sun and get warmed up. The course, honestly, felt way faster than it’s ever felt.”
Notre Dame-bound senior Ryan Pajak, of Eighty Four, Pa., finished first in 14:51 and broke the course record (14:52) set in 1998 by Andy Powell, an Oliver Ames alum who is the track and cross-country coach at the University of Washington.
Bergeron and Graffeo were no strangers to the Franklin Park course, having raced it in the Dual County League championships in October.
Graffeo won the boys’ individual title at the conference meet (15:54.8).
“It’s a dream come true [to make nationals]. I’ve been looking forward to this race forever,” said Graffeo, who finished 14.4 seconds shy of qualifying for nationals last year.
“Last year, finishing 20th, I wanted to come back and make my mark.”
The Northeast Regional had been held in New York since its inception in 1979, but moved to Boston this year and, quite possibly, beyond. Meet director Jorge Torres, the girls’ cross-country coach at Ursuline Academy, said it was a “no-brainer” to stage the race in Boston.
“[Boston is] a great community with a strong tradition, and a great cross-country course that’s really underused,” said Torres, a Chicago native who won a 1998 high school national championship, a 2002 NCAA championship at Colorado, and competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“A big meet like this helps it out,” he said. “There’s not many courses you can go to that can say they’ve hosted the World Championships. When I took over, I only had one place in mind: Franklin Park.”