(Above photo, Cumberland teammates, L-R, Kiley DeFusco, Rose Tuomisto and Charli McCue, finish together at 30:19.50.)
In terms of his running, things have changed a little bit for Ben Drezek when he was a star high school and collegiate athlete. Long days of studying and training while a student athlete for Cumberland High and UMass-Lowell, are now made even longer as he balances his clinicals in the physical therapy program that he’s enrolled in with his hard-core training as an elite runner.
“It’s a grind,” said Drezek, now a member of Tracksmith Boston Hares. ”I’m up at 4:30 every morning for that early-morning five (mile) jog. Some nights, I might not get home from clinical until 8 p.m., and I lace up the shoes and head out. At that point, it’s already dark out. But if you want to keep training and racing at a high level, you have to get it done.”
While his daily schedule may have changed, the one thing that hasn’t for Drezek is his will to win once the smoke clears that starter’s gun. For the second straight year, that will to win came at his hometown race on Tuesday morning. Taking charge from the beginning, the former Cumberland all-stater went on to earn the top prize at the 55th annual Arnold Mills 4M Road Race with a new course record of 19 minutes, 2.60 seconds.
Drezek finished comfortably ahead of runner-up and 2021 winner Nick Celico. The Hendricken alum clocked 19:40.40. Timothy Gill of Attleboro was third at 19:46.70.
Drezek pretty much took the guesswork out of the outcome by the time he reached the midway point of the historic four-miler. He cranked out an opening 4:35 at the mile checkpoint and was nearly 100 meters ahead of the chase pack by mile two, which he hit at 9:20.
“The plan, definitely from the start, was take it out, control the pace and just really spread out the field, see who wants to come up front and play around with the pace,” he admitted. “Once I hit the mile I was kind of by myself. I just knew from there, just get in the zone, kind of grind out the splits and try and stay consistent as possible.”
Per usual, the top finishers at Arnold Mills were populated by past and present high school stars from the Ocean State. Former North Smithfield standout Nathan Masi a junior at the Uniersity of Rhode Island, was fourth with a time of 20:30.90. He was just ahead of Cumberland grad Henry Dennen. The former Clipper all-stater, who just finished a strong freshmen campaign at Amherst College, was fifth at 20:31.10.
Rounding out the next five finishers was Hendricken senior-to-be Brayton Gazerro (sixth, 20:32.20), recent Hawk grads Troy Silvestri (seventh, 20:35.20) and Keegan Tierney (eighth, 20:40.20), Chariho alum Bryce Kelley (ninth, 20:44.60) and Cumberland resident and La Salle Academy freshman Marshall Vernon (tenth, 20:52.2).
Three-time victor Brian Doyle was 11th overall among the 568 finishers with a time of 20:57.20. St. Raphael coach and six-time champion, Chris Magill, was the top senior with a time of 23:53.0.
The 50-year-old SRA coach was just ahead of one of his star runners, Rory Sullivan, who was the first female to cross the line. The three-time first team cross-country all-stater and North Kingstown native was 35th overall in 24:03.70. Richmond’s Danielle Doyle was second and 38th overall with a time of 24:20.70. Two-time winner and defending champion Nora Blodgett was third and 40th overall at 24:34.10. Rounding out the top five was Molly Sullivan (43rd, 25:00.80) and .Jodi Patterson (45th, 25:16.80).
