Trinity College swept the top five spots to finish with a perfect score of 15 in winning the 24th annual James Earley Invitational cross country meet at Stanley Park on Saturday. Weyessa McAllister skirted the 8,000-meter course in 25:42.60, topping teammate Tim Lautenbach by 20 seconds to win the varsity race.
Westfield State got a number of strong performances in placing second in the team scoring, again using their pack mentality to form a tight group in the scoring. Freshman Jack Merck (West Springfield, Mass.) made a decisive move mid-race to finish seventh among collegiate runners in 26:30 to be the top Owl runner across the line.
Less than 45 seconds separated the Owls runners as Zac Bentley (Acushnet, Mass./Taunton) was 15th in 26:40, Anthony DiStauro (Milford, Mass) was 26th in 27:09, Cam Bean (Stoughton, Mass.) 28th in 27:15, and Kevin Rayner (Pittsfield, Mass.) 30th in 27:22.
Westfield finished with 106 points, followed by Springfield in third with 133, and Worcester State in fourth with 185 in the 28 team, 206-man men's varsity race.
The Blue (JV) race featured 14 teams and 129 runners. Two Westfield State alumni took the top two spots, as Jon Joyce '12 was the winner in 27:52 followed by Pat Brett '19 in 28:01. Plymouth State's Colin Moar was the first collegiate runner in 28:10 to lead the Panthers to the team title with 54 points.
Westfield State Alumni placed fourth with 128, while the Owls' jv were sixth with 143. Fourteen teams and 129 runners contested the Blue JV race.
For the Owls' alums, Dan Haryasz '11 took 10th in 28:58.
Westfield State sophomore Mike Maher (Attleboro, Mass.) was 14th in 29:16, followed by Shea Hiltz (Tewksbury, Mass.) (20th, 29:24) and Alec Krohto (Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket)(26th, 29:57).
Joyce, who has several high finishes at the Boston Marathon may have pulled off an Earley-meet fist, competing in both the JV and varsity races. He followed up his JV win by running 22nd in the varsity race with a time of 26:47. Derik Noland '18 placed sixth in the varsity race in 26:21 and Tim Forrest '19 was 19th in 26:43.
The 24th annual race is named in memory of Westfield State runner James Earley, who lost his life in a motorcycle accident in 1995 just weeks before his senior year at Westfield State. This year, the Owls held a moment of silence prior to the cross country races and the Owls football game in memory of retired cross country and track and field coach Jerry Gravel, who passed away earlier in the week. Many runners, staff and officials also wore light blue ribbons with the initals "JG" in memory of coach Gravel, who started the Westfield State 50 years ago in 1969.
