Men’s 10,000 Meter Run

There were some shocking developments out of Ames, Iowa today. That is, unless you were a Massachusetts’ track aficionado who had the opportunity to watch some of the epic battles of the late 90’s between Andy Powell and Franklyn Sanchez. Well Franklyn is back at it again. The Georgetown freshman made a big splash with a fifth place finish (30:26) out of 255 runners. He was just 12.4 seconds behind winner Keith Kelly of Providence College. Georgetwon teammate junior Mike Smith (Wachusett HS)  was 71st at 31:28. Georgetown placed 7th.

Individually placing 10th overall was western region champion Jonathan Riley (Brookline HS)  This senior’s time of 30:40 was good enough to be Stanford’s #1 runner. Stanford placed 4th overall - just behind PC. Andy Powell was also a member of that Stanford team but has been struggling with injuries and finished well back in the pack.

At 52nd (31:19) was Dartmouth’s sophomore Tom McArdle. He and teammate Jarrod Shoemaker (Freshman - 223rd - 33:03) helped their wild card team to a 25th place finish.

All but Riley are back next year and should continue to headline not only for their league but on the national level as well. 

WOMEN’S RACE 6,000 Meters

Not to be outdone, some of Massachusetts’ best female runners also continued their winning ways. Freshman Shalane Flanagan placed 4th overall for North Carolina and was only 12 seconds behind winner Kara Grgas-Wheeler of winning Colorado. Flanagan led her team to a 12th place finish. Her entry into the rigors of college running have only made her better. The top three runners included two juniors and a senior. Flanagan can focus on a heady career and following her progress should be fun over the next few years.

Meanwhile Sheela Agrawal was right on her tail and placed 7th overall for 24th place Duke. Each week she has closed the gap on Flanagan and was only eight seconds back (20:50). That is the closest she’s been this year having chopped that down fron 20 seconds just a week ago.

At 23rd (21:17) was senior Erin Dromgoole (Millbury HS) of Dartmouth. She has shown steady progress in this relatively injury free year and finishes out with an outstanding run.

Sophomore sisters Kate and Laura O’Neill reversed positions from a week ago but still finished less than one second apart (21:22.8-21.23.4). They placed 31st and 32nd in leading Yale to a seventh place showing. After a good freshman year they have suddenly caught fire and are part of a young and talented Eli squad.

Kim Thalmann (soph) was Brown’s #1 runner in a 15th place team finish. To show the closeness of these races she was only two seconds behind the O’Neills which amounted to five places behind L. O’Neill.

Julie Spolidaro placed in the #5 spot for 4th place Boston College (best New England placement). Her 22:07 was good for 120th place out of the 255 runners.  Laura Smith (Wachusett) placed 151st overall for BC.

And Michelle Palmer did get an At-Large berth. This freshman from Vermont - by way of Plymouth South - ran 22:15 for 133rd.

By the way. Anyone who may have felt it was cool and windy at the Mass State Finals at Grafton on Saturday can be happy they didn’t make the trip to Iowa. One weather observer two miles from the course noted the temperature was 13 degrees and windy just one hour before race time.