In the past Hopedale has taken part in the Nike Northeast Regionals at Bowdoin Park in Wappinger Falls, New York running as individuals, this year the Blue Raiders participated as a team. However, being a team sanctioned event Hopedale could not run under their school name instead the seven Hopedale athletes were billed as Raiders Cross Country.
Out of a total of 41 teams from eight states (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire), the Hopedale squad was able to finish 20th, but more importantly they were the first
Division 2 team to cross the finish line.
“There were a lot of big schools from throughout New England taking part in this race,” Hopedale boys cross country coach Joe Drugan said. “To finish were we did is not all that bad considering the size of our school and the region we come out of.”
The Raiders took 20th place with an overall time of 87:15.5 and a breakdown of an average time of 17:27.1. The first runner across the finish line from Hopedale was Brandon Hall, who was the 38th runner to finish with a time of 16:46.4. Following the Hopedale junior was David Wollensack (17:24.7 / 107th place), Bryce Brown (17:28.8 / 114th), Andrew Doran (17:35.0 / 124th) and Jake Murray (18:00.6 / 176th). Also completing the race for the Raiders were Colin Black (18:02.7 / 184th) and Sam Dykhoff (18:50.8 / 238th).
In the freshman race, which boasted over 450 runners according to the Coach, Hopedale’s Kyle Murray, an eighth grader and freshman Matt Marchionni both finished in the upper half of the runners.
Although Drugan is the captain of this ship, he takes no credit in what the runners have accomplished.
“I’m a proud as I can be of this team and what they’ve accomplished this year,” the Coach said. “But I just coach them, they go out and do all the work and they work hard.”
Issue Date:
January, 2017
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