MIAA All-State Division 2 Results, 11/20/21

The 2021 season ended today for the WHS Cross Country program in fine style at the Wrentham Developmental Center. The 9th grade duo of Luke Chisum and Owen Williams represented the team at the highest level for the sport in the state. Despite some slick spots underfoot, the course was by and large smooth and running quite fast. This fact combined with a field of almost 200 athletes who had all qualified to be in the Division 2 race meant the early pace was screamingly fast. Chisum and Williams hung back in the crowd early on passing the mile mark in about 5:35, somewhere in the back half of the field. Soon enough they were working their way past athletes who had bitten off more than they could chew. Hitting the second mile in 11:12 and running close to even splits for the first two miles had them near the top half of the field. The trend continued for an exciting final mile of the course as they continued picking off people ahead of them until the finish where Chisum wound up 76th and Williams a second behind him in 80th. 

Today was the third time the two had raced on the Wrentham layout but the first time racing the 5k distance, as previous visits had been on the shorter 3k course. Their times put them emphatically in the sub-18 minute club and well positioned among the top 10 WHS athletes to have raced the course since it was established in 2010. They were also the 4th and 6th fastest 9th graders in the Division 2 race, and 9th and 11th out of all 9th graders in all three divisions that raced on the course today. 

Note in the results linked below that the 3k split time was recorded for most of the runners, as they passed by the finish line and its timing mat at this point in the race. This split offers a glimpse into how the final stages of the race unfolded, i.e. who moved up and who fell back in the field. Luke Chisum passed 35 people in the last 2k (1.2 miles) of the race, and Williams did something similar as they were side by side pretty much the entire time. 

Results

All-time performance list for Wrentham Developmental Center

This will be the final entry for the 2021 campaign; many thanks to all those who made it a worthwhile, edifying and memorable one. Stay tuned for a preseason interest meeting, coming sometime in June 2022. Anyone who brings a friend to the meeting that's new to the team gets to pick something from the prize bag.