Michael Frasco ’12 crossed the line in a blazing 16:15 to lift Andover to victory over Northfield Mount Herman 27-30 on Saturday, keeping the team’s dual meet record a perfect 3-0. While Frasco broke away from the pack early, captain James Hamilton ’12 and the seven varsity runners battled hard to keep the team ahead of NMH throughout the race. The win came at a crucial time in the season as Andover begins to taper for Interschols.
Connor Fraser ’13 said, “NMH beat us at the NMH invitational, so they were expecting to beat us again. With such a fast start, we really surprised them coming into the race. Our hard work paid off, rewarding us with the victory.”
Frasco led from the start, while Hamilton held onto third behind NMH runner Henry Colt. NMH earned 3rd and 5th, followed closely by Andover’s Julien Blouin ’12 in 6th. The rest of the pack was extremely competitive, with NMH bringing in another runner and Andover finishing Ian Whittall ’14, Izzy Davila ’12 and Matt Fischetti ’14 in quick succession.
Andover’s strong finish allowed the team to edge out NMH’s 5th runner and tilt the score in its favor.
Coach Jeffrey Domina said, “The varsity boys were able to win the race because over the past few weeks they’ve learned to run better as a pack, and then on Saturday they got their number seven in before NMH’s number five.”
Domina continued, “Michael Frasco ’12 ran a brilliant race up front, and then the other boys caught the NMH team by surprise at the back.”
A grueling training regiment also contributed to Andover’s ability to close out the race. “We worked consistently on Heartbreak Hill, the toughest part of our course,” said Fraser.
Now the team will focus on higher intensity workouts with less mileage in practice to allow for more speed in the final weeks of the season.
With NMH behind them, Andover Boys Cross Country looks forward to hosting Deerfield Academy on Saturday, October 29th.
