By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

17th Ocean State XC Invitational

Goddard Memorial Park, Warwick RI

Meet RESULTS

MSR Photo Galleries

The season has become more defined as many of the best teams in the Northeast converged upon Goddard Park in Warwick, RI on Saturday to compete in the 17th Ocean State Invitational. Connecticut was led by Xavier and Mercy with East Lyme’s Sam Leone finishing third and Chase Gilbert grabbing the runner-up spot in the Championship races. 

Championship Boys Race

Coaches certainly have some intuition as evident by choosing Xavier to be the top ranked team in the Marathon Sports-New Balance Connecticut Cross Country Poll. None of the top teams met each other until Saturday when the Falcons went against Greenwich and East Lyme, the top three teams in the poll. Massachusetts’ St. John’s Prep, the 6th ranked team in the Bay State, pulled off a mild upset by defeating 3rd ranked Lexington with 2nd ranked Natick settling for 4th behind Xavier.

The Falcons won their battle against their in-state rivals, taking 3rd with 133 points, only nine points ahead of CT’s 2nd ranked team Greenwich with 3rd ranked East Lyme scoring 144 points. Xavier was led by sophomore Nolan O’Connor who finished in 16:34, good for 17th place. With all their scorers coming in within 37 seconds, their depth was on full display. 

“I was thrilled with how the boys competed," coach Chris Stonier exclaimed. “To pull a narrow victory over the other Connecticut teams felt good. I was surprised how deep we are. It was one of those rare days as a coach where we left the meet truly satisfied. We won by the skin of our teeth. We are showing our cards and they are good, but our hand needs to improve.”

As for his young developing star, Stonier continued, “We didn’t have a low stick but sophomore Nolan O'Connor believes he can be that guy. He is still learning how to compete at this level.”

Boys Championship race winner Everett Pacheco of Monument Mountain Regional High has improved 38 seconds since last year when he finished 18th. Close behind him was Footlocker finalist, Silas Gartner of Falmouth with East Lyme’s Sam Leone taking 3rd in 15:45.8. Other CT runners in the top ten include 6th place finisher Tycen Labelle of Griswold (15:57.2), Greenwich’s Ryan Newcomb took 8th (16:20.7) and Alex Cook of E.O. Smith took 9th in 16:22.3. 

Boys Championship Race-Sam Leone 3rd (Ron Knapp-MSR)

Championship Girls Race

In the Girls Championship race defending champion Abby Hennessy of Westford Academy, MA repeated with Old Lyme’s Chase Gilbert taking 2nd once again. Hennessy was a heavy favorite after finishing 3rd at New Balance Nationals Outdoor in the mile with a Mass state record of 4:34.69. The gifted senior was the only girl under 18 minutes, crossing the line in 17:35.7