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The Hockomock League Championship is one race, but contains four distinct challenges. The major story line is the team championship. That is why the meet exists – to determine the top team in the league. But there are also three sub-plots that have their effect. These would be:

 

  1. The race for the individual championship
  2. The race for a spot on the All-Hock team
  3. The race each person runs for self fulfillment – the race to get better

 

I'll address those three acts individually, then pull it all together in the end.

 

Act 1.

Davidner vs. McNamara in a dual meet

I thought that the race for the individual championship was going to be a three to four person contest. Jenna Davidner clearly was the favorite, having gone through an undefeated season, setting course records and throwing down a monster time at Franklin Park. Those closest to her were Alyse Rocco and Stephanie McNamara. The last dual meet of the season pitted these two athletes against each other, Rocco pulling convincingly away from McNamara over the last half mile. If there was another candidate for upsetting the status quo it had to be Jess Pickett. Her 19:40 at Franklin Park clearly showed her potential to run with the leaders. I was not going to underestimate her.

 

The first three jumped to an immediate lead across the field and onto the road. The big question in my mind was whether it was going to be a strategic race or would someone try to separate early. Down the road Rocco hung on a sprinting Davidner's heels. They both clearly seemed to be working hard while McNamara heeded the advice not to get caught up in a slugfest. She tried to maintain contact while running as comfortably as possible. Pickett was with the trailing pack. The next time I'd see them was at the two mile mark, a spot where Davidner had opened up a small gap on McNamara, Rocco possibly twenty-five yards back.   That is the way they would finish, Pickett closing on all of them the last mile but unable to quite break up the trio.  

 

Last year the race was won by Emily Tran in 17:00. This year all four were well under that time.

1 Jess Davidner 16:16.67       

2 Stephanie McNamara   16:38.02       

3 Alyse Rocco     16:42.42       

4 Jess Pickett   16:47.16    

 

How tough was it up front? Last year Lindsey Booth placed 3 rd in 17:30. This year she ran 17:27 and placed four spots lower (7 th ). This was definitely a talented year, because of new runners and incredible progress from returning runners. For example, Steph McNamara was 14 th in 18:14 in '05. This year she was 16:38! That makes her "most improved" among the high placements.

 

Act 2    

In order to be selected to the Hockomock All-Star Team you must place in the top seven in the championship meet, or be one of five athletes selected by a vote of the coaches. Often it is places 8-12 in the championship who make the team, but on occasion an athlete will be voted on based on a variety of other factors. Did the individual have an outstanding dual meet season? Were there extenuating circumstances that affected the ability to perform on championship day? For example, should someone who has only lost a couple of races all season be left off the team if he/she sprained an ankle during the last week – or caught a cold? These are never easy questions to answer, and the coaches balance what they feel to be the most critical factors. These last few spots are often not unanimous, but a great deal of time is spent trying to be fair to all athletes.

 

The automatic All-Hocks held no surprises. Davidner, McNamara, Rocco and Jess Pickett were joined by Leah Godfrey, Julie Binney and Lindsey Booth. Both Godfrey and Booth are seniors that have had stellar careers. Julie Binney has made great strides over the last year (pun intended).

 

I have not sought nor received clearance to divulge the last five members of this year's team. I know that sounds like a cop-out but each school has a different format for announcing the team. Especially for those schools in the hunt for team success at the state meet, focusing on individual awards may be counter-productive. Let me just end by saying that this year the league was especially talented and deep. The next five in the league meet were all very deserving candidates, and the talent didn't end at twelve!

 

Act 3

 

I can't pretend to understand Act 3. It is as logical as the movie Vanilla Sky. Each athlete has their own agenda (be it team or individual), their own set of circumstances that led up to this meet, and in some cases, their own demons to excise.

 

I know that my own team would give mixed reviews to their performances. A few were very happy, some were resigned to the fact that circumstances kept them short of their individual goals and I'm sure a couple were just plain disappointed. That is the nature of sport – not just cross-country.

 

I just hope that they view this one meet as a process. Striving for success is an admirable trait of human behavior. Failing to attain goals is a by-product of high standards. Failure is only a temporary condition. Some of the most successful people in life made a habit of failing. But failure teaches lessons. It is the ability to pick oneself up, to learn the lessons, and to confront the next set of challenges without fear that sets winners apart from the mainstream. (I don't want to say losers because that is too harsh for those willing to try)

 

I'm proud of anyone willing to step outside their comfort zone and risk. This is a tough sport for the weak of heart. Pretty tough to blame your team when things go bad, and if you're having a bad day the coach can't send in a substitute. Racing for three miles can tell you a lot about yourself. Just remember that as coaches we know that it isn't easy and if you have stuck with it through the tough times (I wish coach Sweeney would write a story on the positive outcome from the trials and tribulations of Leanne Swanson and Siobhan Duffy) you deserve to consider yourself a champion. I haven't found a great place to put this comment, but I'd also like to congratulate Kelly Sheehan for her vast improvement over last year. She jumped 10 places from 21 st in '05 (18:47) to 11 th this year (17:54).

 

Back to the Finale.

 

The team championship is what this is about and the plot line became evident pretty early. I have a habit of correctly guessing the outcome of mystery movies. When I watched Jenna Davidner win the open race at the jamboree the mstery was over. I knew how this was going to end. Sure, there was the chance of injury to a key player in the Fab-Five of the Oliver Ames juggernaut, but the addition of this talented athlete made it so much tougher on the rest of us. After the jamboree I had it as OA-Franklin then the rest. The rest had an awfully hard time. Mansfield and North Attleboro had a spate of injuries. Canton faced a lot of illness. They and Sharon both took a long time to find themselves. I never got a good handle on King Philip. Stoughton was young and Foxboro was short of horses.

 

I was happy that North finished one spot higher than our dual meet placement (moved from 5 th to 4 th ). I was hopeful we could catch Canton who edged us on their home course by one point. I thought maybe on a great day we could also get Mansfield. But, Mansfield easily held on to their third place status. KP grabbed the 5 th spot over Canton's 6 th . Then came Sharon, Stoughton and Foxboro.

 

Now I'm going to make a prediction that will shock some. Who will be the most improved team of XC'07? Stoughton! You heard it here first.