It turning into kind of a tradition for East Greenwich this time of year.
In their final preparation for the championship season, the Avengers have made the hour-long trek to the Cape Cod Fairgrounds the last three years for the annual Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational, a two-day nighttime extravaganza that features Small and Medium Schools races on one day and Large School races on the other day.
After finishing second the last two years for Small Schools, the Avengers made sure the third time was the charm.
With a strong overall performance, East Greenwich took home the team title by scoring just 61 points. Whitinsville Christian, one of the top Division 2 squads in Massachusetts, scored 67 points for second. The Avengers utilized pack mentality to the max with just 51 seconds separating their top five scoring runners. Senior Ella Maybaum was the first across the line for EG, placing 13th in 19:49.5. She was followed by freshman Olive Willis (14th, 19:51.2), senior Celia Caliri (19th, 19:55.5), senior Alicia Chen (22nd, 20:00.6), and sophomore Brea Wood (40th, 20:40.5).
“We make an effort to make this happen every year. It’s so much fun.” said EG coach Erin Terry. “Last year we were dancing on the starting line and that was so much fun, and then we have to run fast, too. It’s like a bonus.”
East Greenwich collected more hardware in the boys’ competition. The Avengers placed second overall in the Small School race with 131 points. Parker Charter (MA) won the crown with 111 points. Junior Luke Allen (12th, 16:06.2), junior Brody Fahys (23rd, 16:32.0), sophomore David Hayes (31st, 16:50.8), freshman Andrew Parisi (48th, 17:12.6) and freshman Brody Tetreault (52nd, 17:14.2) comprised the scoring for EG.
Individually, the state had a solid showing in the race with three runners breaking 16 minutes. Smithfield’s Jason Padula finished fourth overall with a PR of 15:29.4. Mount St. Charles Ethan Fadden (ninth, 15:48.8) and Smithfield’s Michael Goodson (11th, 15:53.7) also went sub-16.
