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Hockomock Preview

 

First Girls then Boys

 

A year ago Franklin and Oliver Ames battled hard for league supremacy. On the team front, nothing has changed. This year the dual meet title went to OA. The Panthers will be trying to gain some measure of revenge. It won't be easy. The addition of freshman phenom Jenna Davidner to the already solid Binney and Pickett duos has added sharper teeth to the Tigers. Franklin will counter with an experienced squad that is rounding into shape. Lindsay Booth and Leah Godfrey can expect to see a lot of blue hanging close to their heels, including newcomer Kathleen Ryan and a resurgent Lianne Swanson. They'll have to pack it in much tighter than in the dual meet to have any hopes of upsetting the favorites.

 

There should be a great battle for third place. Mansfield edged North Attleboro who nipped King Philip who snuck by Canton who then came back and surprised North Attleboro who didn't exactly run away from Sharon who . . .

 

Well, what I really mean is - who knows. This is one that I wouldn't dare predict. It'll be a fun battle. Every time I tell my team how great I tell them this is, they counter with, "For you maybe!" That's right. I love these battles. Too bad that as a sprinter I had less than 11 seconds of competition. I savor these twenty minutes of suspense!.

 

The big change from last year to this year will be up front. The top two returning runners from last year are Lindsay Booth and Stacey Binney, both having run 17:30 on the course, Booth at Hocks and Binney at the Hock Invite. There was a sprinkling of other runners within that range. But this isn't the Hocks of last year. I can easily see eight to ten runners below that, and some of them will be breaking 17:00. Maybe the weather will alter that. Whether the adverse conditions slow the times or not, my point is that the depth of talent is so much greater this year. Frosh Davidner and Canton's Alyse Rocco are the two favorites. Neither was even in the competition last year. Davidner wasn't pushed in the first head-to-head meeting but Rocco had her best outing of the season against NA last week. Right on their heels should be Stephanie McNamara of NA. She was 14 th last year but has shown incredible improvement since then. Her only losses this year have been to those two. Still, this can't be written off as a three-girl race. Jess Pickett ran 19:40 at Franklin Park, which also projects to a sub-17 on a dry Borderland. She was only 5 seconds behind Rocco in that race.

 

Now the answer to my teaser. Is this the best Hock talent ever depth-wise? There are a lot of years when two people battle up front. Last year it was Emily Tran and Jenna Banks. For three consecutive years Taryn Kenney and Emily Estey went 1-2, 2-1, 1-2 with both runners having sub 17 performances along the way.

 

How about three person battles? In 1990 it was a three girls race with Lynn Liberatore, Lori Kelly and Cheryl Lyons. Lynn won that one win a 16:36.

 

Actually, one need only look back a few years to see some epic battles. In '04 it was Kailin Collins (16:26), Emily Tran (16:49) and Katie Rizzolo (17:08). '03 brought Katie O'Brien, Meredith Leenhouts and Collins. I don't have the Hock results at my fingertips but all three went under 17:00 at the South Shore Invitational that year. And just the year before Sara Powell smoked the course (sub 16!! At Sounth Shores) with Leenhouts and O'Brien both lighting it up as well.

 

This year might be a banner year for Hock females, but they haven't proven it quite there yet. If this can become a 4 or even 5 person race – then who knows? The depth of talent is definitely there.

 

How about the boys?

Barring alien abduction Mansfield will win the boys meet. There just isn't a close enough rival to even threaten. And Ryan Collins will win the boys race. The two questions are:

 

#1. How many green shirts will we see before any other color shows up?

 

#2. Which team will get second place?

 

First about the individual race. I'm going to stick my neck out here. It doesn't hurt because I don't know much about the boys anyway. I'm saying that there won't be a long green line. Of course, they like to lay low until it counts, so maybe they will kick it up a notch. But, will they if they don't have to? I figure they'll do what it takes - and only that as they save the big races for November.

 

I go with:

 

Collins

Moverman

Ricci

Irwin

Lutkevich

Payne

Matz

Mattocks

Barca

Meagher

Stein

 

Who am I forgetting? Actually, no one. Coaches talk, coaches posit and coaches are pretty sharp when it comes to recognizing an athlete rounding into shape. I have an envelope containing the name of a runner that isn't listed but will probably finish top 10. Tomorrow I'll open that envelope and if I'm wrong, it won't be the first time. If I'm right I'll claim to be a genius.

The runner-up battle shapes up to be a grudge match between dual meet second place finisher North Attleboro and third place Oliver Ames. Franklin also plans to be in the hunt. It will all be determined in the rain on Friday.