Cross country teams off to competitive start

With many talented runners returning, new CHS cross country coach David Hiltz is counting on good things to happen this year for the girls’ team, which opened the season with a 20-35 win against Sharon last Tuesday at home.

The boys, meanwhile, are still in a building phase, but they showed some promise despite losing to the Eagles 15-40.

“I was pleasantly surprised by Tuesday’s meet,” noted Hiltz. “The scores don’t show the whole picture. Across the board, we had a lot of runners post great times. To have two of the boys come in right around 18 minutes and three of our girls come in under 21 minutes is promising so early in the season.”

Canton’s top runner on the girls’ side was sophomore Catherine Song, who won the race with a time of 20:05. Senior captains Amanda Eagles and Courtney Loughnane were next for the Bulldogs, finishing with times of 20:52 and 20:59, respectively. Rounding out the top five for Canton were juniors Julia Guerini and captain Michaela Kelly.

“The girls have been great,” said Hiltz. “They have an experienced group of runners returning from last year. The girls’ team has a solid top seven to 10, and what really impressed me, top to bottom, was the times they ran.”

Hiltz said this week’s away meet against perennial league power Oliver Ames should be a good measuring stick for the lady Bulldogs, who posted a 4-1 league record last year.

The boys, meanwhile, are hoping to improve on last year’s record of 1-4. In last week’s meet against Sharon, senior Joe Clancy led the way with a time of 17:59, followed closely by sophomore Courtland Priest (18:00). Seniors Daniel Brooks and Matt Derbin and junior Matt Gleason rounded out the top five for the team. The captains this season are Derbin, Peter Hartfiel, and Dan Bronstein.

“The boys’ team has a tough go early, having faced Sharon and now Oliver Ames,” said Hiltz. “The way the schedule is set, we will have some opportunities against teams later on. More importantly is the fact that this early on in the season, before we’ve really transitioned into our second phase of training, runners have posted some great individual times across the board.”

A social studies teacher at CHS, Hiltz was an assistant coach last year and previously ran track and cross country at Medfield High School and St. Michael’s College. Hiltz said the work and leadership of both groups of captains has made his transition into head coaching “much easier.”

Both teams traveled to Oliver Ames on Tuesday and will travel to Foxboro next Tuesday, September 24.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Sep 19 2013. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.