FORT DEVENS — The trajectory is as clear as day to see, and it’s a staggering one for Cassidy McBee. And if the Triton sophomore didn’t prove it last year, he certainly did this fall.
He’s the real deal.
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon down at Fort Devens, McBee capped an already tremendous sophomore campaign with a Meet of Champions medal. He crossed the 3.1-mile finish line in 17:02.00, which was good for 13th out of 186 runners in the Division 3 Meet of Champions course. In the same meet last year and on the same course, he finished 70th with a time of 18:00.80.
So, yeah, nearly a full minute better in a year’s time.
“Yeah I got the medal so it felt good today,” said McBee. “I’d say it was a pretty good year overall. I just tried to run further and faster during the offseason, about 45 miles a week, and it paid off. The goal is to keep improving heading into next year.”
Which, based on his history, you should expect to happen.
McBee was named a Daily News All-Star last year as a freshman, and what he did on Saturday was the cherry on top of a significantly better sophomore campaign. He was Triton’s top finisher in every regular season meet, broke 18 minutes at Old Town Hill — against Newburyport, no less — was fifth at the CAL Open, and then placed second out of 200 runners at the Division 3A Sectional last week.
And McBee’s finish on Saturday helped Triton take 14th out of 23 teams with 379 points. Behind him were teammates Clay Erickson in 84th (18:19.80), Joshua Ferris in 112th (18:43.91) and Henry Dean in 113th (18:45.26).
The Triton girls also qualified as a team, and placed 19th out of 21 teams with 408 points. Leading the way for the Vikings was senior captain Ava Burl in 49th (21:45.85), and she was followed by Mia Jaworski in 60th (22:04.22) and Elodie Muller in 139th (23:57.68).
Elsewhere in the Division 3 Meet of Champions race, Amesbury didn’t make it as a team, but had a pair of individuals qualify to compete. Julia Parsons, already a two-time Daily News All-Star, ended her high school cross country career in style. The senior placed 35th out of 175 runners to finish as the top local competitor in the race (21:20.88), and don’t be surprised if you hear her make a college commitment soon.
And for the boys, Josiah Fugate wrapped up his own terrific sophomore year placing 28th (17:37.36).
DIVISION 2: Stroope sensational in just her 2nd year
Every meet that passed this fall, it just got harder and harder to believe that this was only Devin Stroope’s second year doing cross country. Longtime Newburyport coach Don Hennigar couldn’t help but smile when he remembered her first ever meet last year.
He thought it might have been her last.
“She was on the ground for about a half hour afterwards, and I didn’t know if she was going to come back the next day,” laughed Hennigar. “But she did, and she’s just a good worker and a good kid with great athletic ability.”
Flash forward to Saturday, and Stroope was leading the pack for her Clippers at the Division 2 Meet of Champions.
A senior, Stroope finished 30th out of 183 runners in 20:50.25. Her placing helped Newburyport take seventh out of 23 teams with 263 points, and came after her taking 11th at the Division 2B Sectional last week, and fifth at the CAL Open two weeks prior. But Stroope’s rise in the sport of cross country should come as no surprise, as the Naval Academy commit is also a six-time Daily News All-Star between indoor and outdoor track.
“She’s a heck of an athlete, she can do anything,” said Hennigar. “She’d run track, she just hadn’t been a distance runner. She was more used to the 400, not so much what we do in cross country. But she’s just an athlete with a great work ethic.”
And of course, with that team finish, Newburyport had a solid all-around day.
Morgan Boddy was the next Clipper in 55th (21:43.21), and she was followed by Abigail Porto in 61st (21:53.38), Isla Trail in 99th (22:48.17), Lily Pilz in 107th (22:55.85) and Riley Boddy in 116th (23:15.14). All five of those athletes are slated to return next year, so the Clippers are in great shape looking ahead early to 2025.
But on the boy’s side, Newburyport suffered a tough break.
Daily News MVP and CAL Open champion Michael Mohoric did not compete on Saturday due to a hip injury. The junior pushed through it at last week’s Division 2B Sectional, and still managed to take ninth in a field of 175 runners. But, after helping lead the Clippers to Meet of Champions as a team, the best course of action was to cheer on his teammates on Saturday instead of risking further injury.
“It was better that he didn’t run and make it worse,” said Hennigar. “But he had a great season. He was injured last week, too, and he still tested good. He got through it, he got us here today which was good, but it was best not to risk it. But it was good experience today. We had some freshmen who don’t normally run get to run today, so it was a good experience for them.”
Without Mohoric, Newburyport placed 22nd out of 23 teams with 516 points. Leading the way for the Clippers was senior Theo Roberts in 62nd (17:43.20), and behind him was John DeJordy in 113th (18:24.40) and Finn Deveney in 117th (18:26.84).