John Valeri

“With John and Christian as 1A and 1B, that might be the best 1-2 combination up front we’ve ever had,” coach Greg Zopatti said.  

Mike Miller does a fantastic job recapping al of Saturdays Divisional Championships.

THE HERALD TEAM Nathaniel Adams Jr. Lexington Chris Allen Sr. King Philip David Allen Sr. Sandwich Drew Beck Sr. Oliver Ames Nicholas Christensen Sr. Peabody Wesley Gallagher Sr. Pembroke Ben Groleau Sr. Framingham Peter Hale Jr. Swampscott Matthew Herzig Jr. Weston Joel... (via Boston Herald)

It was a relatively successful day for Massachusetts athletes at the 2011 Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.  The Pembroke boys, Hamilton-Wenham girls, and Lexington's Nat Adams qualified for the event after impressive performances last week at the Northeast Regional Championships in New York.

  Jonathan Green had every reason to be happy after reeling off a sterling time of 15 minutes, 41 seconds in the Division 1 race to outlast always-tough Joel Hubbard of Marshfield (15:42) and Wachusett’s Colin Bennie (15:46). The race proved to be the deepest off the day as eight runners dipped under 16 minutes on what is slowly becoming the legendary 3.1-mile Franklin Park layout.  Pembroke’s Wesley Gallagher had plenty of challengers on his way to defending his Div. 2 title with a scintillating 15:43. Wakefield’s star harrier Stephen Robertson was the final runner to take on Gallagher and finished second in 15:44.   In the team battles, Brookline (110 points) defeated Lowell (147) and Oliver Ames (177) to successfully defend its title from a year ago.  After capturing its third consecutive girls title, Bishop Feehan went to work in the boys Div. 2 race against defending champion Pembroke. Only 21 seconds separated the first five Shamrock runners as they edged out the Titans for the title.

The Titans captured their third straight Boys Northeast Championship Division title, beating US#30 St. Anthony's (NY) by just two points behind some very solid performances across the board.  MileSplitMass had the opportunity to catch-up with Head Coach Greg Zopatti and ask him a few questions about their latest win.

Many of the athletes we will see this season did not even race on the varsity level last year, and the coaches that demonstrate the patience to employ a long-term plan will most likely hoist a championship trophy in November. (Photo by Henry Finch)

The beginning of the outdoor season signals the end of the indoor season.  Over the next few days, MileSplitMass will take a look at the top performers from each class and highlight some of the outstanding performances of the indoor season.