GLOUCESTER — It was a sun-splashed late October morning where history was made — twice.
For the first time in six decades, Beverly High had the first two finishers at the Northeastern Conference boys cross country championship race as 17-year-old senior captains Jason Bossler (15:48) and Jason Provost (15:51) hit the finish line before anyone else Saturday at Stage Fort Park.
Then it was time for the girls to take center stage, where Marblehead’s magnificent senior captain, Marri O’Connell, nabbed her third consecutive title at the event. But she was pushed throughout by Swampscott super sophomore, Annabelle Averett, who finished just one second behind O’Connell’s tape-crossing time of 18:37.
O’Connell was one of four Magician runners to finish in the top 12, helping her squad take the NEC girls team championship. Back on the boys side, it was third place finisher Mohamed Lhassouani (16:22) who guided Peabody High to the boys crown, with the Tanners capturing five of the top 15 spots.
Before a large crowd cheering on both the varsity and junior varsity races for each gender, it was another successful showing along the picturesque seaside course at Stage Fort.
BOYS RACE
The 6-foot, 145-pound Bossler, a member of the National Honor Society at Beverly High who is considering a number of college choices in the Northeast, said he channeled his inner Steve Prefontaine during the race (“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”), helping him push his way through towards the top spot.
“I had the mentality that yes, I’m going to be hurting two miles into the race, and you’re going to want to give up. But you have to surprise yourself, run hard and make a kick that’s so strong and radical that you convince yourself you can do it, no matter how hard it is,” Bossler said.
That kick came on the last hill, when he passed his teammate and good friend, Provost. That enabled him to give himself a few seconds of space and sprint for the finish line.
“I normally don’t kick for another minute, but knew that was my chance,” said Bossler. “I know Jason has a better finishing kick than me, and if I waited I wasn’t going to beat him in the last 50 meters because of it. I had to win right then. So I made my move and started sprinting as hard as I could up that hill … and I never looked back.”
Provost had broken a Beverly High course record that had stood since 1999 earlier this season, beating Bossler by less than a second. This time, their roles were reversed.
“We came into this race absolutely expecting to go 1-2,” said Provost, who is leaning towards continuing his education and running career at Stonehill College. “We maintained that mindset from the starting gun until the end.
“Both of us came in wanting to win it; we’ve been back-and-forth as competitors and teammates all season and have done that since we were freshmen,” Provost continued. “We work together, but we also compete with each other and it’s motivated me to always have someone there to push me.”
Pushing each other to be the best and finish on top has made both harriers to achieve excellence.
“They’re both so selfless and know they wouldn’t have the success they’ve had without the other,” veteran Beverly boys cross country coach Sean Dunleavy stated. “I really think they’ve got a good relationship that way in that there’s no egos, and they model that for the rest of the team. They know that working hard together brings success.
GIRLS RACE
A three-time team captain, O’Connell had breezed to titles as a both a sophomore and junior, winning by 88 seconds the first time nad 29 seconds last fall. But her final race at Stage Fort was a nailbiter, as she and Averett traded the first two spots throughout the race before winning it late.
Cognizant that Averett had beaten her for the first time the previous weekend at the Catholic Memorial Invitational by almost 30 seconds, the 17-year-old O’Connell said she focused on her mindset leading up the NEC championships.
“I knew I had to expect her right on my back,” said O’Connell, the Claddagh ring on her right hand sparkling in the sunshine. “I had to work it out whether I’d go on her shoulder or not. When you’re running with someone, you can’t give up when they pass you. We ended up passing each other many times throughout the race.”
In the last 400 or so meters, it was O’Connell’s finishing kick that gave her the title for the third straight year.
“I was just hoping that my legs didn’t give out there,” said the 5-foot-4, 115-pound O’Connell, who is weighing offers from some Division 1 schools. “I was praying they’d kick all the way to the finish. So I was really glad with the outcome today. Going against Annabelle and knowing it was my last race here really fueled me.”
As both a vocal and passionate leader for her team, Marblehead head coach Will Herlihy felt that the individual crown was an accomplishment that O’Connell “deserved”.
“This was maybe the gutsiest race I’m ever seen from Marri,” said Herlihy. “Falling behind like she did and being able grind her way back into it and reel in a fantastic runner like Annabelle says so much about her. She had never had to come back to win a race before this season; now she’s done it twice. And for her performance to lead us to a team title was amazing.”
The 15-year-old Everett, who like the rest of her Swampscott teammates wore purple shorts with caricatures of both chocolate milk and cows on them, looked at O’Connell “like a God” when she first started running high school cross country a year ago. Since then, though, she’s grown as a runner in both ability and confidence, helping her improve significantly.
“Having Marri push me and use her as a comparison mark to see how far I’ve come is really amazing,” said Averett. “To have her push me to run faster and realize what I’m capable of really helps. She’s just amazing.
“I’m pretty strong on hills, so any time we were on one I took that opportunity to try and pass Marri,” Averett added. “But then she’d just come right back and catch up to me. I think we both did amazing, but she deserved that win. She worked really hard for it.”
TEAM WINNERS
The Peabody boys finished with 56 points in first place, seven lower than second place Swampscott and 16 ahead of third place Marblehead.
In addition to the aforementioned Lhassouani’s third place time, Osama Mishal took 11th place in 16:55, Matthew McCusker was 13th in 17:08, Aiden Trainor claimed 14th in 17:12, and Jackson Guerriero’s 15th place time of 17:17 were all clutch for the Tanners. Luke Murphy (19th, 17:19) and Logan George (28th, 18:20) turned in other strong performances.
Atticus Jakious (16:27) and Simon Brown (16:35) finished fifth and sixth overall, respectively, to lead Swampscott. Anthony Colella (10th, 16:51) and Lincoln Geaney (16th, 17:18) also earned Top 20 spots for the Big Blue.
Four runners from Marblehead also finished in the Top 20 as Will Cruikshank (16:44) took eighth place, Henrik Adams (16:4h6) was ninth, Filip Grubor (16:56) was 12th, and Zach Pike (17:30) placed 20th.
Zander Hamlin (16:25) finished fourth overall for Masconomet, which wound up with 80 points. Conall Strangman (16:38) added a seventh place finish and fellow Chieftain Owen Walsh (17:19) was 18th overall.
Beverly wound up fifth as a team (84 points), with Chris Mita (22nd, 17:38) following Bossler and Provost. Danvers, led by Kyle Hampe’s 29th place showing in 18:25, was sixth in the nine-team field with 189 points, and Salem, powered by Brooks Workman’s 17th place finish in 17:18, took seventh place with 203 points.
For the girls, aside from O’Connell’s winning time Marblehead was benefitted by great races from Sarah Munroe (5th, 19:11) and Norah Walsh (10th, 20:14) to take the NEC title with 46 points. Ruby Assa (12th, 20:34) also ran a great race, as did Evelina Beletsky (18th, 21:44), freshman Sophia Letwin (22th, 22:25) and Jesslyn Roemer (24th, 22:42).
Peabody’s 62 points were good for second place. Lauren Foley placed fourth (19:11) and Ella Braz eighth (20:01) to lead the Tanners, followed by teammates Lily Murphy (14th, 21:14), Maya Sutton (15th, 21:18) and Cecelia Toda (21st, 22:21).
A strong third place finish from Grace Conklin (19:10) helped Danvers place third as a team. Others in the Top 20 from the Falcons were Maydson Danish (11th, 20:28), Addison Lamar (16th, 21:27) and Emily Sullivan (19th, 21:46).
Masconomet was fourth with 82 points, led by Madison Gibeau-Schmitt’s sixth place time of 19:24 and ninth place finishre Abigail Williams placing ninth in 20:08. Clara Alberta’s 13th place showing in 21:12 was also stellar.
Swampscott, behind Averett, took fifth overall with 115 points. Big Blue teammate Lucy Gentry (22:14) added a 20th place finish while Vera Conley (22:29) was 23rd overall.
Beverly was next with 118 points; Grace Corbett’s seventh place finish (19:40) led the way, with Chloe Bossler next in 17th (21:37).
Ivy Meehan was top finisher for Salem, finishing 39th in 25:56.