The 2022 campaign finished up today in fine style for the WHS athletes who qualified for the MIAA Division 2 Championship at Willard Park in Devens. This meet, broken down into three separate divisions by student body enrollment size, is the highest rung of the ladder for interscholastic competition in Massachusetts. The conditions were favorable with relatively mild temperatures and little wind. The course was the source of some controversy ahead of the meet. It had been altered within the last month from the originally planned course, and proved to be a slower running layout for most athletes than originally thought. While there was a lot of flat ground on the loop that athletes covered three times, there was also a steady gradual climb on a somewhat tilted uneven camber. Combined with the very deep nature of the race fields it made for some compelling racing.
The girls raced first, with multiple WHS athletes racing for the first time in over 25 years. Arya Samaratunga and senior captain Bella Thoen picked up where they left off in last week's Division 2B qualifying race. The first mile went a bit slower than last weekend for both of them, but as the race progressed it was clear they were both moving steadily through the field. In the end, both Wayland runners had finished well within the top half of the field with Samaratunga inside the top 40 in 36th place, and Thoen in 76th. On a day when athletes from all divisions were surprised their final times weren't as fast as expected, Samaratunga improved on her time from the 2B race at Stanley Park on Sunday. Thoen was passing people right up to the finish line. It was fun to watch.
The boys were next up, and the field was crowded early on. As the race wore on the field as a whole sagged somewhat, with the pace slowing from the leaders to the back of the pack. Owen Williams led the way for Wayland with Luke Chisum close behind, the two of them steadily moving their way past runners who had overextended themselves. Further back Will Jackson kept a relatively steady rhythm while Daniel Narvaez and Thomas Creavin raced close to one another in the middle stages as the 4th and 5th. Senior captain Will Morris ran a strong third mile behind those two and Michael Wightman worked his way up in the latter stages as well.
In the end, Williams and Chisum finished in 16th and 17th, just outside of the top 15 who earned medals but ahead of some athletes who had run faster times last weekend at Stanley Park in the qualifying races for waves 2A, 2B and 2C. Of the 23 teams that toed the line Wayland finished 9th which is a more than credible result. Going into today's race, it was clear which teams would take the top six places, and also clear that after that the next nine teams seemed evenly matched. This can be seen on the "Qualifiers" tab of this spreadsheet. Wayland finished ahead of most of this cohort to crack the top 10. The vanquished foes included Holliston, a team that finished ahead of Wayland last weekend and known for wearing distinctive flannel patterned jerseys (perhaps they're fans of paper towels). From a team perspective it was a satisfying way to end the season.
With the season drawing to a close, this website will go into a dormant state although there may be the occasional posting here and there. The next team function of note will be a preseason interest meeting, to be held sometime in June before the end of classes. Stay tuned for details about that. To all who took part this fall, thanks for a great season.
splits and times for WHS athletes
WHS top individual and team championship meet results since 1997
pictures from the boys race (need to log in from Amazon)
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