Hopedale’s Coach Drugan Expecting Big Things from this Year’s Cross Country Team

The Hopedale boys cross country team in sitting on a gold mine in terms of Coach Joe Drugan, who continues to get the best out of his Blue Raider athlete’s year in and year out. Last fall the Hopedale male runners had probably their best year ever winning everything that was put on their plate as they finished the season undefeated, won the Dual Valley Championship for the sixth straight year (10 of the past 11), captured their seventh consecutive Division 2 Central Title and capped everything off with another Division 2 State Title. Under Drugan the Blue Raiders have four state titles in just a little over a decade and have taken home the top prize two of the last three years.
And although it is without a doubt his leadership that guides these young men to have the kind of success they have obtained at Hopedale, the long-time coach, who is entering his 25th season this fall, takes no credit at all.
“I’ve had a good group of students that are well disciplined in their mental attitude for cross country,” the Coach said. “I have been blessed with some great athletes through the years. I am only the coach, these kids do all the work – not me.”
Drugan feels that the athletes are the ones competing and they are the ones that take things serious on the course.
“To me, cross country is a sacrifice – one that you must shutdown outside distractions for three months in order to be successful. These kids do that,” Drugan said. “I want them to have fun, but they need to be the ones that decide if they’re going to put things behind them in order to have success. It’s all up to them.”
As the Hopedale runners get ready to protect their championship on the course one could say that the possibility of back-to-back titles is theirs for the taking. Coming back from last year’s championship team will be seniors Brandon Hall, who finished 13th overall at the States; Andrew Doran (33rd), Bryce Brown (32nd), Josh Weaver and Colin Sugrue. Drugan is hoping this group can not only lead this team, but leave something behind.
“I am expecting bigger and better things from this group of seniors,” the coach said. “It’s their last year and I want them to go out in style. They need to leave something behind for their legacy, they’ve been running together for many years.”
Other runners for the Blue Raiders this year will be sophomore Matt Marchionni and junior Colin Black, who finished 81st at the state meet last year. According to the Coach these two have been working extremely hard in the off season to take their running to the next level.
Sophomore Brody Dobbs is Drugan’s sleeper this coming fall.
“I’ve been pretty good at picking guys who have talent and Brody is not only a good kid, but he looks to have a lot of potential and if he taps into this year, look out,” Drugan said.
In addition the upper-classmen Hopedale has a pack of talented freshman coming out for the squad this fall hoping to make a name for themselves. Amongst those newcomers are Kyle Murray, Jackson Trenzi, Joey Turenne and Finn Riley.
“Someone is going to come out of this pack. I’m not sure who it is going to be but we will have a future star on our hands,” the coach said. “We also have a bunch of seventh and eighth graders who have been working hard in hopes of earning a spot on the team. These are the building blocks of the program’s future.”
And although it looks as though Hopedale has another shot at the Championship, Drugan doesn’t come forward and so.
“I never expect anything – we just work toward it. I can’t predict the future and I have no crystal ball,” the coach said. “My job as the coach is to keep these kids healthy and on the right track so that we can compete. Our goal is to work hard while supporting each other, take it one meet at a time and if we do make mistakes, fix them.”