Simply an amazing meet out on Northfield Mountain, with the best individuals and teams in the state of Massachusetts competing for four championships (D1 and D2 on both the boys and girls side).  Like in 2003 and 2006, the Mountain (MA All States rotate between three locations) served as the location of a truly amazing meet.

Boys Division 1

Going into this race, it was anyones guess who would win between Mansfield, Methuen, Lowell, and Brookline.  Everyone had their guess as to who would win, and no-one could argue that any of those teams had a shot to take the title.  In the end, Mansfield won their second straight championship with 133 points, edging out Methuen and their 137 points.  Brookline (153), Lowell (158), and a resurgent St. John's Prep team (164) rounded out the top five team-wise.  Westborough and Shrewsbury, the prohibitive Central Mass favorites (whom many predicted would win as well), finished an extremely disappointing tenth and eleventh, respectively.

Individually, Pat McGowan led the way for Mansfield, winning in 16:05.  Arlington's Anthony Taylor (16:10), Methuen's Jared Reddy (16:11), Westborough's Byron Jones (16:19), and Whitman Hanson's Tyler Sullivan (16:19.9) rounded out the top five.  Westborough's Jeff Bush, the other half of their one-two punch that many though would propel them to victory, finished a disappointing 20th in 17:01.

Girls Divison 1

In yet another rematch between NE #1 Lincoln Sudbury and NE #6 Newton South, LS yet again won behind Andrea Keklak's winning time of 19:00.  LS blew NS out of the water 52-102, however do not let that score mislead you, as NS has been battling injury and illness all week, and some have said they were lucky to even get a team out there.  Behind those two top teams were Franklin (126), Wachusett (147), and Whitman Hanson (166).

Behind Keklak were Westfield's Carolyn Stocker (19:05), Acton Boxborough's freshman Christine Davis (19:14),  Haverhill's Julie Solimine (19:25), and LS's Corey Stock (19:32).  Beverly's Millie Chapman finished a very disappointing 22nd, however other than that there were not really any surprises aside from NS's performance, which itself was not surprising with the news of their situation, and Jenna Davidner's DNS, which was not much of a surprise because of the news swirling about concerning her sprained ankle.

Boys Division 2

Pembroke dominated.  With an unbelievable score of 37, they ran away from second place Bishop Feehan and their 97 points.  Behind them were Seekonk (137), Whitinsville Christian (158), and Hamilton-Wenham (177).  A team that many thought would compete with Pembroke, Newburyport, finished eighth, partially due to one of their top guys getting spiked about 800m into the race by Pembroke's Paul Cina.  Cina has said on Dyestat that he did not that he spiked Hickman, but that "maybe that wouldn't have happened if he wasn't running all over my heels... the first 800 meters".  Hickman was taken to the hospital due to blood loss, but is fine now.

Seekonk's Johnny Gregorek, the prohibitive favorite to win the race after going sub-16 at Northfield earlier this year, finished 14th in 17:07 after cramping up 200m into the race and never recovering.  Arleigh McRae of Whitinsville Christian jumped on this chance, winning in 16:23.  Ryan Kelley and Paul Cina of Pembroke went 2-3 in 16:26 and 16:28, respectively, followed Dana Dourdeville of Old Rochester in 16:40 and Greg Krathwohl of Ipswich in 16:45.  Most people's choice for runner up, Dennis Yarmouth's Max Darrah, finished a disappointing ninth in 17:02.

Girls Division 2

Not surprisingly, Bishop Feehan won with 45 points, followed closely behind by Hamilton-Wenham's 60.  Milton (141), Mt. Greylock (157), and Sutton (186) followed well behind the top two.  No real surprises here, although most thought Bishop Feehan would be a little more dominant than they were. 

Individually, Pentucket's Alanna Poretta won in 19:08, followed by Swampscott's Lindsay Walsh (19:11), Feehan's Viviana Hanley (19:19), H-W's Alison Lanois (19:36), and Cardinal Spellman's Katie Powers (19:37).  No real surprises individually either, so not really much to analyze from the girls D2 race.

So there you go, my analysis from the 2009 MA All State Meet.  Without a doubt it was another amazing season, and it should be a great winter and spring season distance-wise here in MA with a ton of boys who can run fast mile and two mile times.  Nonetheless, we are looking forward to NXN regionals on Saturday where Pembroke boys, Brookline boys, LS girls, NS girls, and perhaps a few other MA teams (not exactly sure to be honest) will be looking for a chance to take a trip to Oregon.