On an overcast drizzly afternoon a select group of 10 Wayland boys competed on the Wrentham Developmental Center course. This is the second of three visits this season for Wayland at this venue, with the first visit being back in September on a much sunnier day at the Frank Kelley Invitational.
The rain that started yesterday and continued off and on through most of today softened up the course. This was exacerbated by the hundreds of large school runners that raced in the morning. While there were no puddles and only isolated patches of mud, the course overall seemed to be running a bit slower than it does when the ground is dry. Spiked shoes were the order of the day for traction. Medals are given out to the first 40 finishers in each race.
The first race with WHS runners was the 10th grade race. The duo of Thomas Conley and Jack Ricci worked together early on before Conley pulled away a bit in the last mile. Both of them won medals finishing in 25th and 39th place. Next was the 9th grade race, with two Wayland runners in the top 15 in Evan Hopps and Henry Tharpe. Behind them Dylan Stack and Rhys Hill, way back in the field early on, made a determined charge in the late stages to secure the last two medals on offer. Rounding out the WHS group was Brendan Tripp. While there was no official team scoring, the online results platform does team scoring automatically and the Wayland contingent was fourth of nine hypothetical scoring teams. Finally, the largest race of the day was the combined 11th/12th grade race that had 274 finishers. Among them was Grady Spence who moved well through the field in the second and third mile to run a big PR time, which is particularly impressive given the spongy ground underfoot.
With the changes last year to Franklin Park, the 3k and 5k courses at Wrentham are the longest-standing layouts where Wayland Cross country competes, having been in use since 2010.
Wayland performance lists for Wrentham Developmental Center, 2010-present
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