Michael Frasco ’12 sprinted to the finish line to pull away from a Deerfield runner in the final meters of Boys Cross Country’s meet against Deerfield on Saturday. Frasco’s performance led Andover to a tight one-point victory.
“During the race, the top Deerfield runner ran about 10 meters behind me the entire time,” said Frasco.
“I kept thinking that he was going to fall off the pace, but to my surprise, the runner stayed with me until the Great Lawn, at which point I sprinted to the finish line.”
Coach Jeffrey Domina said of the performance, “Both [Frasco and Deerfield’s runner] ran brilliant, focused races, with Deerfield’s runner pressuring Frasco continuously and Frasco digging deep to hold him off. It was either boy’s race through the final stretch, when Frasco managed to out-kick him for the win.”
Frasco’s narrow victory came as a surprise to an Andover team that had grown accustomed to his dominating wins. As a result, the team leaned heavily on the middle of its pack. Julien Blouin ’12, Ian Whittall ’14, Izzy Davila ’12 and Paul McGovern ’15 all finished ahead of Deerfield’s fifth place runner, thereby securing a victory for the team.
Nearly as crucial as Frasco in Andover’s success was Mike Boyle ’13. Saturday marked Boyle’s first competitive race since an injury took him out over a month ago. However, Boyle showed no signs of being out of practice, placing second for Andover and third overall with a time of 16:52.
Boyle said, “It was and is an extremely difficult part of my life, always wondering how much better I could have been without [these injuries]. It felt good to get my times down, but I’m still not satisfied.”
Most impressive of all, Andover battled through harsh weather conditions throughout the race and was still able to pull out on top. Domina said, “The conditions were icy and gray […] with the snow already falling out in Deerfield and the cold rain just opening up in Andover.” Running in poor weather is no easy task, but Andover’s runners were able to perform regardless.
Due to the adversity the team faced, Andover’s team cohesion was extremely prevalent throughout the race. Domina said, “It was a wonderful cross-country day, with inspiring competition and great excitement.”
After its impressive win, Andover looks to continue its win streak this Saturday against Exeter.
