A soccer player during the fall, Cam Kurbec didn’t compete for his middle school team last year. But the North Cumberland eighth-grader made a name for himself in the Junior Olympics cross-country circuit. In what he described as a “pretty good” first season, Kurbec won both the New England and regional titles before capping it off with an All-American finish at Nationals, placing 11th overall.
His twin sister, Caylee Kurbec, on the other hand, is already a seasoned veteran. For her team’s title-winning squads the last two years, she was the No. 1 runner, placing sixth as sixth-grader in 2023 and winning it all last year. Along with that, she also excelled postseason at the JO meets.
Their paths to success may have been different, but on Sunday at the RIIL Middle School State Championships, both led to the same destination — a pair of individual titles for the Kurbec siblings on a picture-perfect day at Deerfield Park.
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GIRLS RACE
As she often does, Caylee Kurbec positioned up front from the start. With eventual second-place finisher, Julie Fuimarello of Cole, running within strides of her for most of the way, Kurbec made her move with about a half-mile remaining. From there, she opened up the gap, crossing the line in 10 minutes, 54.25 seconds for the three-kilometer distance. Fuimarello took the silver at 11:03.67. Broad Rock’s Emma Morrissey was third in 11:08.69.
“Coming into this race I really just wanted to go out here and perform at my best,” Kurbec said. “Around the baseball field I realized (Fuimarello) was struggling. I used that to my advantage and picked up my pace. From then, I just kept that strong pace to the finish.”
In the team battle, Barrington’s depth proved too much for its rivals, including runner-up Cole. The Eagles had all five of their scoring runners among the top 18 with a gap of less than 40 seconds. Sarah Clegg led the victors by placing fifth overall with a time of 11:44.99. She was followed by Abby Rotondo (eighth, 11:51.29), Graysen Mello Dumas (tenth, 12:03.69), Hadley Slusarz (17th, 12:23.92) and Lizzy Van Hult (18th, 12:24.32).
“This (is) an amazing group of runners,” said BMS coach Larson Gunness, “From one to seven, they are all really good. I just had faith in all of them. They are all good kids, they’re all in good shape, they all work hard. It’s just a terrific group of kids.”
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BOYS’ RACE
Unlike its counterpart, this one came right down to the end. In a down-to-the-wire sprint to the finish. Cam Kurbec was able to overtake Xavien Rudd with about 20 meters left to win with a time of 10:07.33. Rudd secured second in 10:08.75. Gallagher’s Colin Smith placed third at 10:16.03.
Kurbec, who took his only lead when he passed Rudd near the finish line, sensed a victory was possible in the late stages of the race and down the stretch.
“The whole time I saw him in my sight,” Kurbec said. “My dad, I heard him screaming, ‘He’s tired, go get him.’ I just gave it my all and got him.”
Just 30 seconds separated the top five for Cole, which won its second straight title. Comprising the EG scorers were Ben Casey (fifth, 10:28.78), Tyler Levy (eighth, 10:35.63), Paul Lehmann (10th, 10:36.83), John Lehmann (11th, 10:38.62) and Glenn Amato (16th, 10:48.98).
