MSTCA Speed Classic (Small School) Preview 2022

I AM BACKKKK !

To be honest I hate the word Small especially when we are talking about XC & TF. Yes Yes I get it, the criteria is the size of the school population. However I am a true believer it is not the size of the team or the competitor it’s the heart of the Champion, the heart of the warrior. This Sunday December 18th, 2022  in the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center, the MSTCA will be hosting the 2nd part of the Speed Classic Weekend. The heartbeat of the assassin’s will be heard. There is nothing small about the competitors we will see the likes of starting in the

GIRLS 55H

Last time I saw my home girl from Auburn Massachusetts Katherine DeFosse she was 7th a year ago in the Meet of Champions with a time 8.75. Defosse comes in with the number one seed time, and looking forward towards a big race sunday. Coming out the Blocks with DeFosse will be Cam Travis from Hurdle U aka Plymouth South, recently it was Katrina Sullivan who has graduated and moved on to I believe Holy Cross.. Can someone in the comment section verify Back to Travis if you know Plymouth South they will be in the mix. 

Boys 55H

My Main Man from the North Shore Ean Hynes from Newburyport seeking to get the Clippers some valuable points down the road. This weekend look to see Hynes, be accompanied out the block by the O’Riorden Family (Sawyer) seeking to make a name for himself as older brother Tristen O’Riorden took his talents to Umass Lowell, look for Nashoba to be in the mix. Nolan Palmer more Hurdle U aka Plymouth South and Arman Araujo Wareham, Brennan Shea East Bridgewater will be in the hunt 

Girls 55

We will have an Ava VanBuskirk sighting, the talent out of Marlborough is going to have a big day with top times in the 55 & 300 Meters. North Reading’s Ava McIntyre & Kayla Bundy will be mixing it up with Pentucket girls off Sdyney Trout, Sage Smith, Resse Gallant. I would love to see Ruby Codrington out of Westwood shake this entire race up. 

Boys 55 

This weekend Small School Speed Classic no cliche will be won in the blocks, no clear cut winner just the entry seeded time. The number one seed coming into the meet is Julian Ram-Tylerbest out of Medfield with a time of 6.71, however sitting in 10th place is William Acquaviva from Newburyport, the Acquaviva has produced talent over the last several years don’t be surprise to see Will stick his nose into it this weekend. My boys from Littelton Tyler Castillo & Paul Neary, (Neary) Family salute will be representing Tracktown USA. Keep an eye of Jaiden Mcniss Nantucket, Yanni Kakouris Pentucket always a tough act and last but not least Chirs Oman from East Bridgewater. 

Girls 300 Meters 

Can Vanbuskirk break 41 sec in the 300 ?  How will Stroope & Felts from Newburyport respond ? Or will Maddie Grogan from Walpole be my sleeper athlete of the meet only time will tell that’s why we race

Boys 300 Meters

Man oh Man this is like a family affair.. Michael Long representing the Long Family from Ashland, Mike has been working hard creating a name for himself, look for the TVL’s Finest seeking to dip below 36.. However, Tim Smith from Lunenburg and my main man Gabe Merrow are going to give Mike everything he is looking for, how gets the 200 first ?

Girls 600 Meters

This is going to be a good one… 400HH Specialists my home girl is back Giulana Ligor from North Reading, but she will be challenged by my other home girl who had an amazing XC Season look out for Mia Jilani from Milton. I see Caroline Collins is entered in this event, looking forward to see the Nashoba Junior race, watch out for Pope Francis Brenna Sears 

Boys 600 Meters

Maybe the race of the day we shall see. School Record Holder Senior Extraordinaire my main Man Zach McClure from Lunenburg will have his hands full with the likes of Samuel Secor from Bromfield and Evan Cherry from Littleton.  Winner runs sub 1:24

Relays 

Boys 4x200: Littleton; Pentucket, Nashoba Can Newburyport break 1:37 to crash the party

Girls 4x200: North Reading, Newburyport, Pope Francis look out for Pentucket 

Boys 4x400: Snowball Fight between Bromfield, Lunenburg, East Bridgewater, Douglas, Pentucket, - This could be the race of the day -TBD Sunday 

Girls 4x400: Littleton, Newburyport which Lunenburg team has Abby Rodriquenz anchoring, maybe the faster of the two, as they enter two teams.

I will be announcing on the Live Stream, I will see you in the Live Chat. Athletes , Coaches don’t be shy don’t be a stranger come kick with me. How should come to booth ?

#WeAreLive

#SpeedClassic2022

#SmallSchoolPreview

For more Coverage Follow: CoachH.Live

7th Annual Big Wave Recap 2019 @BpsXC_

Summer Miles makes Fall Smiles is the cliche but looking at this picture above I believe this to be true. Here are in a new season XC, this is are fifth time attending the Big Wave Invitational. I am truly excited about the team, second time in five years of the team existence that I would be fielding a girls team. Additionally I have some young talent coming up from the 8th grade (Brandon Douglas) and 9th grader Max Barcan as well last but not least the Boy's Varsity who has been tremendous in establishing the program.

First race was the Freshmen & Sophomore (Boy's) race. Last year when Max Barcan was in 8th grade on the course he ran 18.22 for a 2.5 race and finished 100th. Fast forward to this year Max put some work over the summer during Captain's practice, stepped on a Bee's Nest that slowed him down a lil bit on training however Max still ran a personal best on the course with a time of 16:07 and finished 40th overall out of 162 runners
Brandon Douglas 8th grader started his career running his first XC race ran 18:04 and finished 124th out of 162 runners

Check out: 2019 Big Wave Freshmen & Sophomore Boys Results

Next up was the Girls Varsity race, I was eager to see how the girls were going to due since this was going to be their first XC race ever. Proud of the resiliency and effort displayed in today's race by Grace Colon with a top 20 Performance just missing out in the medal. The junior covered the 2,5 Mile course in a time of 18:01 and finished 19th. #BrightFuture

Paola Ruiz a junior as well ran her first ever race and finished 73rd with a time of 23.35 and Senior Captain in her first race ever Samantha Wilcox ran tough race, considering she couldn't run two miles without stopping today she crushed 2.5 miles didn't stop and ran 25.17. Very proud of the girls efforts, their teammate Katherine Keating came to support.

Girls Big Wave Varsity Results:

We end the day with Boys Varsity Race. I was unsure about where we would ended up as a team in scoring but the goal was to be in the top 5. When dust settled the Boys ran amazing very proud of their effort. The course was extended this year just tad bit so it measured 2.5 Miles. We finished second overall and be a very talented St John's Shrewsbury.

Adnan Abdi Rahman 4th overall with a time of 13:38
Johan Sepulveda 10th Overall with a time of 13:54
Joshua Joseph 14th overall with a time of 13:56
Ezra Taub 17th Overall with a time of 14:03
Cristian Novelle-Ruddy 44th Overall with a time of 15:20
Luke Harrington in his first race over very proud of the senior's effort finished 77th Overall with a time of 16:27

Boys 2019 Big Wave Varsity Race Results

Q&A with @Coachladd #FearTheFlannel #HollistonTFXC #GiddyUp

I am a very fortunate in my short coaching career of 5 years that I have met some of the best an amazing individuals that keep the sport of running alive and vibrant here in Massachusetts. 3 years ago I started my position at the Head Coach of the BPS(Boston Public Schools) City Wide team. My first experience meeting Coach Aaron Ladd was an intimidating one from a distance, honesty is the best policy, he was coaching at the time with Lexington Boys XC team a perennial program here in Massachusetts. Before I even got to shake the man's hand I just saw a School Flagged being waved vigorously side to side before the Emass Divisional meet in 2015, I was amazed. I had never seen a XC program with so much school spirit and at the helm of the charge was this man with sun glasses on. My first time as a HC at Emass Divisional 1 XC meet here in 2015 I thought I was a football game the intensity was unmatched. 

Moving forward I got to interact with Coach Ladd over the last three years, from his enrollment to organizing the High School segment for the New Balance Grand Prix here in Boston Massachusetts, to his involvement as Cabin Coach for Foss Running Camp. Now as the head coach of Holliston High School XC & Track Field programs, I am even more proud that I i consider Coach Ladd a friend. Aaron is a class act, one of thee most humble, genuine individuals I have ever met. I was more amazed by Coach Ladd when I attend his house warming this past fall in Ashland, Mass, where he showed me how many races he has ran nation wide and his collection of medals. Coach Aaron Ladd a man of many milestones and achievements in his personal and professional career with a dynamite spouse in Katrina. I wanted to pick the brain of my peer especially after being a Guiding eyes for Blind Boston Marathon runner Thomas Panek. Please check out the article on the NY TIMES, A Blind Runner and his guide dog

DATG: Coach Ladd first and foremost it's truly a pleasure of mine conducting this Q&A, you mean so much to the sport of running here in Massachusetts. When did you fall in love with the sport of running ? How old where you ?

Coach Ladd: My older brother ran Cross Country & Track in high school and is 8 years older than I am, so probably by age 6 I starting Hershey track meets and trying to catch my brother. That's for the activity of running, as a kid the sports of Baseball, Basketball, a little soccer were my real interests. As i've gotten older my interest in Baseball has waned (5 hours for a game?), but I still enjoy watching local teams in hockey, football, basketball. The "sport" or running is a little tougher to describe. To be honest, the sport of running is struggling, as not many people like watch others run. What they, and myself do love is the community of running. Being on a team, building a program, cheering on neighbors and friends at road races, that's really where the love of running has come forward for me. The community of running, is unmatched by any other sport with good people, energetic events and camaraderie, but the sport of running still needs work.

DATG: Lexington is a perennial program here in Massachusetts, Who was your coach ? What was your experience running in the Middlesex League in High School ? What where your events and personal records ? 

Jeff Glew was my high school cross country coach, and Bill Babcock my track coach at Lexington.  I was a perennial improving JV kid to be honest. By senior year I was able to be 5-7th man on league champion cross country team, and ran 4:51 mile scoring some varsity points in track. My best memories of high school track were competitive dual meets with league rivals like Woburn and Reading, where we focused on racing rather than running times. There were some great battles and I remember focusing on giving a 100% effort not on my times, that was the best part of high school track.

DATG:  Where did you attend undergrad ? Did you run in College and if so what events as well as personal records ? 

I went to St. Lawrence University, D3 school in northern NY. Again I was constantly improving from being a back of the pack freshmen walk on to top 3-5 runner my senior year in XC. I never really put together a great track season to be honest, but was proud to run 4:14 for 1500m and 9:20 for 3000m both in the same league meet my sophomore year to help score team points for a conference championship. In XC I ran 26:45 for 8K and was a 1st team league all-star which I am proud of for my senior year.

DATG: What was the most difficult moment in your running career and how did you overcome adversity ?

I can't think of the most difficult moment, sometimes it was just a period of time where lack of motivation has crept in. Changing routines, signing up for a race or getting back to running with others can help with that. I've always just thought of it as a chance to grind it out when you struggle, and realize it takes work. 

DATG: How many races have you ran post undergrad ? Which was the toughest course ? Which was your favorite scenic ?

Too many to count, 100+? Toughest course is subjective, but a marathon along the course of NJ had the toughest conditions 40-50mph head wind the entire way. It wasn't as wet as the Boston Marathon this past weekend, but wind was almost comical at some points, I stopped and sat down at one point to get out of the wind and wait for it to calm down. That day was all about finishing. Most scenic race was definitely the Missoula Marathon in Montana. Starting next to a cattle ranch, with sun rising over 10,000' snow capped mountains, running down a country road, with whitewater river nearby. I've been blessed to have done some amazing races around the country.

DATG: How critical is support from your spouse as a Coach/Runner ?

It helps that she ran high school XC and track and "gets it". She likes running and appreciates the time sacrifices needed to be successful. She's a great cheerleader and has come and supported teams I've coached, a little to the surprise of the kids, but is so important for us to share together.

DATG: What's your diet look like nowadays ? Do you have a cheat day if so ? What's your go to dish ? 

Maybe not as good as it should be, but I try to follow a "triangle" diet for most meals. One protein, one vegetable and one grain/carb. Eat a balanced diet, avoid fried food and keep it simple. I try to know the ingredients in what I eat. Go to dish is definitely pasta. 

DATG:  What's the next race on schedule ? Are you traveling out the country to run anywhere anytime soon ?

I've only ever raced in Canada so no out of the country racing, but this weekend 4/21 i'm off to Olathe Kansas to run the Garmin Marathon, state #25 in my goal to run one in all 50 states. After that it's some short sprint triathlons in June in Massachusetts, a trail marathon in upper peninsula of Michigan in July and then Chicago in October, the real goal race for the year. 

DATG:  How did you meet Thomas Panek ? What that experience serving as guiding eye in the Boston Marathon of 2018 ?

I met Tom, about 30 minutes before the start of the race. Brooks (who i'm a member of their coaching community) was looking for a guide for the 1st half of the race, and living 3 miles from the start line made it easy to coordinate. My parents have raised guiding eyes for the blind puppies for 20+ years and Tom is the CEO of that organization so it seemed like a great connection. I was happy to do it. The experience was memorable to say the least. Tom and I were quickly able to bond and learn the procedures for guiding during the traffic of other runners during the race, there is a lot of mutual trust that is built instantly when I realize i'm responsible for his safety and he needs to trust my vision. Tom summed it up best after the race via text "If a blind man can run a marathon through this weather, make sure to not accept any excuses from your high school runners"

DATG: What does the Future behold of Aaron Ladd ? 

Other than upcoming races and travel, just work and coaching. Excited to go into year #2 of XC at Holliston. It has been an adjustment leaving my alma mater of Lexington where I coached for 7 years to start coaching at a smaller town where I knew nothing about the community, but have started to build new traditions (Fear the Flannel). Being a 10 minute drive from home though really helps with the balance of work and coaching though. #GiddyUp