Hawks cross country team captures league title race
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Hudson - ! e Hudson High boys cross country team continued its league dominance Oct. 27, the Hawks racing to their third consecutive Mid- Wach League, Division C championship meet win in Boylston.

Junior Luke Doherty won the meet, covering the 2.7- mile course in 14 minutes, 17 seconds. He was followed by classmates Brian Vinciullo, who was sixth overall in 14:55, and Conor Grogan, 11th overall, in 15:11. Freshmen Derek St. Cyr, 12th overall in 15:13, and Johnny McDowell, 14th overall, in 15:18, rounded out Hudson's top five finishers.

! e Hawks' second five this season has featured the running of Steve Lebreque, Eric Berman, Tom Osmecki, Kevin Delaney and Zach Schaeffer. Lebreque, Osmecki and Schaeff er are juniors, Berman

title race and Delaney are freshmen.

"! e guys are all just really running well right now," Hudson coach Kathy Vinciullo said. "I was really pleased to see Conor Grogan finish 11th overall. He has been injured most of the year and for him to be our third guy across the finish line showed me he's close to getting back to being the runner he was last year and this summer, before he got hurt."

! e victory in the league meet allowed Hudson to exact a measure of revenge against Mid-Wach C rival Bromfield. ! e Trojans beat the Hawks in a dual meet during the season to win the regular season crown, but Hudson got the last laugh, besting Bromfield, 44-53, in the end-of-season league meet.

Oakmont (65 points) finished third, Narragansett (71) was fourth, Murdock (144) fifth, Clinton (151) sixth, Tah- anto (217) seventh and Ayer (223) eighth.

Hudson finished its regular season dual meet schedule with an 11-3 mark.

! e Hawks may continue to have their way in the Mid- Wach C for years to come, as there isn't a senior among the top 10 runners on Hudson's 28-man roster.

"We were pretty consistent all season with Luke and Brian switching off and dueling to be the No. 1 runner on the team all season," the coach said. "And while Conor was out for most of the season, we had a lot of freshmen really step up and run well, led by Derek and Johnny."

! e freshmen, in fact, have enjoyed quite a run of their own this season, winning the freshmen races at the Bay State and Wachusett Invitational races and being the top Massachusetts finisher - and second overall - at the Amherst Invitational, which was won by Keene (N.H.) High. ! ey hope to add the State Coaches Invitational title, to be run Saturday Nov. 3, to their stable of awards.

"I think the success of our freshmen is a direct result of having the eighth grade housed at the high school," the coach said. "! ey run with the team as eighth-graders and it allows them to get a year of experience in reference to the routine and the workload and what's expected."

Kathy Vinciullo said she is realistic about what to expect for her Hawks in the upcoming Central Mass. Cross Country Championships.

"We know we've got our work cut out for us competing in Division 1," she said. "So we think a top-10 finish is a realistic goal. We'd be thrilled to somehow weave into the top seven and if every guy on the team ran the best race he's capable of, I think we could crack the top five.

"A top-five finish with everybody coming back would be a fun way to end the season and have an eye on next season at the same time, though," she said.