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Five track meets are set for beginning of January to get your indoor season going. Saturday, the Boston U All-comers meets have sections for all abilities in the 3000 / 400 / mile / 200 / 800. Races begin at 10:00 a.m.

Saturday afternoon at 5pm, the RCC Tiger Invite, a more complete meet with field events, runs at the Reggie Lewis Center. Again, all abilities welcome. Register at DirectAthletics.com.

A new field-event-only meet is set for Holy Cross College in Worcester on Tuesday, January 6; events include the PV, LJ, TJ, WT, and SP. 4PM start, open and masters invited.

Finally, the Needham TC Youth Invite takes place at the Reggie Lewis Center on Sunday, January 11. It's for ages 5-16, with a pretty complete schedule. See NeedhamTrack.org.

And, the 40th annual Dartmouth Relays spans Jan 9-11; most events are closed at this time, but masters can still enter their events on Friday 1/9; details are at lancertiming.com.

More details can be found at www.usatfne.org/track/.

USATF-NE Managing Director Steve Vaitones was named an IAAF Level B Road Race Course Measurer. He joins New Englanders Ray Nelson and Justin Kuo among the 50 measurers in the United States at either the B or A level. There are just 15 measurers with an "A" level in the USA, Jim Gerweck (CT, A) and David Katz (NY, A) being the only two A's in NE/NY. (Wayne Nicoll of New Hampshire, now retired from measuring courses, is an Emeritus A.) Worldwide, there are just 65 A and 111 B measurers.

One team champion and three other team medalists highlighted the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship in Virginia on Saturday. Led by Jack Collopy, Granite State Flash scored a convincing win in the Youth Boys (age 13-14) race. Collopy, fifth overall, was the highest finishing New England association athlete on the day.

Two other teams earned silver medals in the ten age group races. Waltham Track Club Midget Girls (age 11-12, Olja Rapaic 19) and Nitehawks Sports Club Midget Boys (Max Lachance, 13) matched that place in their respective races. Final team medal winners were the Nashual PAL (Conor Canfield, 14) third in the Bantam Boys (age 10 and Under) race. Team RUN just missed a podium appearance in the Youth Girls race. In their first appearance at Nationals, they tied for third on points, but were edged on the tie-breaker (team with best fifth runner). With a number of other top 10 placings, it was the best JO showing for local clubs in a number of years.

14 runners finished in the top 25, earning "all American" honors.

Full results can be found at the USATF Website.

Rebecca Donoghue (New Balance Boston) battled strong fields and brutal conditions to win the USA Fall National / Club Cross Country Championships at Spokane, Washington on Saturday. An overnight snowstorm created a rough course, and while the air was clear by race time, decreasing temperatures and gale force winds made it the toughest race ever run for much of the field. Donoghue, an Olympic Trials qualifier at 5000 meters who also placed well in both the USA 5K and 10K road championships this fall, won her first ever USA Championship by 8 seconds in 21:38; teammate Jenn Donovan, NE Champ, was fifth as only five runners broke 21:00 for the 6K circuit. The pair, plus Erin Dromgoole in 6th, led New Balance Boston to a repeat their runner-up spot, this time behind Boulder Running Company (69-100) with three time US champion Boston Athletic Association, led by Kasie Enman (9), third at 128. Also placing in the 21 team field was the Greater Boston TC (13, Sara Donahue, 34th).

Men's teams were represented by Greater Boston TC, 30th among 40 clubs, with top local individuals Justin Lutz (43) and Mark Miller (55) among 314 finishers.
Masters races had a local flavor with Greater Lowell RR teammates Patty Foltz and division runner of the year Bill Dixon taking the age 60+ wins. Maine's Bob Winn topped the 50+ division in his first race in that age group (with John Barbour of GLRR 6th). NE champ Dan Franek (Dirigo RC) raced in second in the M40 division, heading up a 4th place finish for the club among 18 scorers.

Full results can be found at the USATF Website.

Five New Englanders ran solid races in the 30th annual Footlocker Scholastic Cross Country Championship in San Diego on Saturday.

The Girls Race featured three past champions, ensuring an honest pace and keen competition. Down to the final quarter mile, the race was true to form as all three past winners were in the mix. A kick by 2006 winner Jordan Hasay of California carried her to the lead in the final 100 meters and to the win, only the sixth runner to win two titles in this feature event (two are from New England). Three time qualifier Emily Jones (Bromfield, Harvard MA) closed her high school XC career with a thirteenth place finish, with Mass. Division I champ Kristin Kasper (North Andover) 31st.

Boys race was dominated by Virginia's Solomon Haile, who was unchallenged afer a mile, with Alaska's first FL finalist, Trevor Dunbar second (check out his snowstorm mile time trial in YouTube video). Top New Englander Mike Moverman (North Easton MA) in 17th, was followed by Andrew Springer (Westerly RI, 24th) and Phil Galebach (Medford MA, 32nd), all running well in the elite 40 runner field.

Detailed stories and full results are, as usual, at dyestat.com, and at footlockercc.com (with some video.)

For those interested in the meet's history, a listing of all Footlocker finalists from New England can be found at usatfne.org/cross.

In international racing over the weekend, Ireland's Mary Cullen, runaway winner this fall in both the Mayor's Cup and NE Championships, placed fourth at the European Championships in Brussels Belgium. Currently training in Providence, the meet found several other placers with RI connections representing the Emerals Isle; PC grad Martin Fagan paced the Open Men in 24th, and Providence resident Mark Carroll was 42nd. Providence College runner David McCarthy was tops in green in the Under-23 race, 24th, with teammate Richard Yeates in 33rd. Also representing Ireland was BU grad Rosemary Ryan in the women's open, 41st.

Laurie Boemker receieved the Presidents award at the 2008 USATF Annual Meeting.
Photo: Justin Kuo

A steady stream of New England states representative were announced for their athletic endeavors and contributions at the USATF convention awards presentation breakfast.

In the high performance division, Olympian Joanne Dow (Manchester NH) was the Ron Zinn award winner as outstanding Female Race Walker for 2009, with Theron Kissinger (Waterbury VT, CTRW) the RW Grand Prix winner.

Most awards came back to the region from the Masters Long Distance Running Committee. The Masters Performers of the Year were Maine's Joan Samuelson and Utah's Dennis Simonaitis whose NE connections are many - graduate of Xaverian Brothers HS (Westwood MA), UMass-Lowell, and the HFC Striders. Tops in Age Divisions included Samuelson (50-54) for women, and Simonaitis (45-49), Norm Larson (50-54, VT / Green Mt.AA), Bill Dixon (60-64, Brattleboro VT / Gr.Lowell Roadrunners), Bill Riley (70-74, Marstons Mills MA / Cape Cod AC) for men.

Masters Track & Field recognized several Athletes of the Year in two broad age divisions. Included among Men age 60+ was Bob Matteson (Bennington VT, age 90-94), while fellow Vermonter Barbara Jordan (South Burlington VT) was one of just six women in the same age division given notice.

The Masters T&F Hall of Fame elected Roger Pierce, age 64 of Essex, MA. Roger's accomplishments include more than 20 individual first place titles in U.S. Masters Championships and 12 medals (8 of them golds) at the outdoor World Masters Athletic Championships, including 2 golds and a silver in the 400 - his best individual event. He also medalled in the WMA Indoor Champs at Linz, Austria in 2006, winning both a silver medal in the M60 400 and a gold medal on the world-record setting M60 4 x 200 relay there.

New Englanders were also among Contributors brought to the front of the meeting. The H. Browning Ross Merit Award for lifelong service to Men's Long Distance Running went to Bob Sevene, Waltham MA native and coach for several NE clubs, colleges , and world class athletes over four decades who now resides (and coaches) in California. The Scott Hamilton Memorial Award for LDR contributions on the local association level went to Richard Bolt, past NE Mountain/Ultra/Trail chair who started similar programs after moving to Oregon three years ago.

On the Women's Long Distance Running side, the Contributor of the Year Award, named for our own late Marja Bakker, was presented to BAA past president and board member Frank Porter for his work with the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials.

Officials chair Laurie Boemkerand husband (and USATF-NE past president) Ron Boemker were recipients of the Officials' Committee John Davis Award for community activities and leadership in addition to officiating. Laurie was also called up for one of a dozen President's Awards for her long term contributions to USATF.

Three NE delegates were elected or appointed to key committee positions. Gary Snyder (Gr.Boston TC/Boston MA) was re-elected as chairman of the Masters Track & Field Committee, which oversees activities in that discipline, and will be involved as the World Masters Championships comes to the US (Sacramento CA) in 2011. Kathy Nary (Newbury MA) will serve as vice-chair of Women's Long Distance (Road) Running for the next four years and Steve Vaitones (Waltham MA) will have the equivalent position in the Race Walking Committee. Steve was also re-appointed to USATF's Rules Committee.

Find the full awards lists at www.usatf.org

USA Track & Field began the new Olympiad with elections, restructuring, and positive words at the federation's 28th Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada last week. The New England association had 15 elected delegates and several additional representatives at the sessions that covered all aspects and age groups of the competitive and administrative aspects of the sport.

Restructuring of the top level of the organization passed overwhelmingly in the first general session; it will reduce the National board of directors from 31 to 15, and while some groups lose a direct representative, they will at minimum share a spot at the table.

National Director Doug Logan, noted in his first address to the body how this "remodeling" of the organization's house will lead to more work toward the organization's common goals and to less fragmentation. On the job since July, Logan's keynote address in Sunday's closing session was well presented and well received. While commenting on the elite needs of the sport, he also noted the needs at the base level including uniform standards, statistics and rankings, increased safety and proficiency in the management of events, application of newer technologies and creating more compelling reasons for more in the sport to be members of USATF. You can read his complete address here.

National championships in most sports committees were awarded through 2010 (and some beyond that), with several continuing in or returning the New England venues. Find meeting summaries and full awards lists at www.usatf.org

Two Massachusetts team had creditable finishes in the Nike Cross Nationals December 6 final in Portland OR. Yet again, positions switched between friendly league rivals as Newton Centre Athletics (Newton South), led by Kelsey Karys (37th), placed sixth (204 points) in the 22 team field, with Mercury TC (Lincoln Sudbury) twelfth; MTC top individual was Andrea Keklak in 67th. Manlius NY was a solid winner with 66 points. Individual Abby Levene (Phillips Andover) placed 57th.

The boys' race was won by North Spokane (WA) with Danbury CT 21st; Francis Hernandez (Nashua NH, 63rd) and Aaron Watanabe (Norwich VT, 90th) raced the final, which saw the top 72 cross the finish line within a minute of each other.

Results and stories are at Dyestat.com.

The two major post-season events for high schoolers held their qualifying races on Saturday, and both finals will have strong representation from New England.
The Nike Cross Nationals in Wappingers Falls NY hosted runners from 8 states bid to fill just 2 team and 5 indiviual spots for the December 6 final in Portland OR. Massachusetts teams led the charge in the girls race, as a season long rivalry added to the battle. Mercury TC (Lincoln-Sudbury) turned the tables on Newton Centre Athletics (Newton South) from state championships with a 3 point margin, but the important result was that both sevens will head to Oregon as the 1-2 places. Mercury had a 63-66 edge over NCA, as all but one of the scorers from both were in the top 20; Glastonbury CT (93) and Phillips Andover (119) are in the running for an at-large berth. Overall winner was Kelsey Karys (Newton MA), and Heidi Caldwell (3, Lyme NH) and Abby Levene (4, Phillips Andover) advance as individuals.

New Jersey teams swept the boys races with Danbury CT 4th and Bishop Guertin (NH) Cardinals seventh. A pair of locals will head west as individuals; Aaron Watanabe (5, Norwich VT) and Francis Hernandez (7, BGuertin NH) made the cut among the top 5 non-advancing-team finishers.

At the same time further south in the Empire State, the long running Footlocker XC Championship Regional qualifier at Van Cortlandt Park, New York - the "individual" championships - found two Bay Staters were among the ten girls advancing to the December 13 final in San Diego. Massachusetts Division II state champ Emily Jones (Harvard MA) made her third straight Footlocker final, winning the race in 17:31, the fastest time in the Northeast qualifier since before 1999. Joining her will be MA Divison I winner Kristin Kasper (North Andover), who finished seventh in 18:10.

The boys' race did one better with three qualifiers from the NE association; Andrew Springer (Westerly RI, 4th, 15:39), Michael Moverman (North Easton MA 6th, 15:48), and Philip Galebach (Medford MA, 7th, 15:49).

Full results and detailed stories on both meets can be found at Dyestat.com.

Jack Collopy (Granite State Flash) has won both the NE and Region I Youth Boys races

The t-shirts say it all for Team Run - National Qualifier. The club placed 2nd and advances to Nationals in their first year at JO.

New England Association runners dominated the team results at the Region I Junior Olympic Cross Country championships on Sunday in New York City, and will be line up with qualifiers from around the country at the National JO Meet in two weeks.

The top 3 teams, and other individuals finishing in the top 20 qualified for the Nationals on December 13 in Virginia. New England runners again made up the largest percentage of all fields in the 10 races contested against the five other associations of Region I.

Cool temperatures and light winds made for good racing weather at the fabled Van Cortlandt Park course, where ten races in five age groups were contested. Two of the day's individual winners were from New England. Jack Collopy won the Youth Boys race, and not only led his Granite State Flash A Youth Boys (born 1994-95) team to a strong win, but the Flash B team raced to second, and thus will have two squads in the Nationals. Haley Gray of Vermont was the gold medalist in the Young Women's (born 1990-91) race.
Top three finishes were recorded by nine New England runners beyond the two winners. Conor Canfield (PAL, BB), Molly McCabe (GateCity, MG), Emma Hulburd (YW), and Mitch Leveille (SentinelStr, YM) were silver medalists, and Brendan Kennedy (GSF,BB), Madeline Berkson (ProvC, MG), Kaitlin McGahie (CMS, IG), Kelly Halligan (IG), Caroline Capuano (SS, YW) won bronze.

The Midget Girls (born 1996-97) race was a New England team sweep, as Waltham TC (MA), Gate City Striders (NH), and Sentinel Striders (RI) went 1-2-3, with six more New Englanders going as individuals in that group. NE's Nitehawks Sports Club (MA) dominated the challenging Midget Boys race, and Nashua PAL's Bantam Boys (born 1998+) scored the fourth team win for the association. Granite State Flash will have five teams heading south, with PAL and Sentinels both with three teams. The final squad in Virginia will be Team RUN, placing third in the Youth Girls in their first appearance in the JO program. In total, New England will represent with 15 of the 27 teams from Region I heading to Nationals.

The full results, along with results from other Regions, are available on the National site, and info on National meet is at the USATF JO Page.

Topped by a Divsion III win by Middlebury, local colleges were well represented at the three NCAA Division Cross Country Championships held on November 22 and 24.

Divison III action was centered in Hanover Indiana, where the Vermont scored the school's fifth XC title. Led by senior Alexandra Krieg (via Wellesley MA HS) in sixth, they were the first of five New England schools in the results. Williams made the awards podium as well placing third, with M.I.T. 10th in their first ever trip to Nationals. Colby (17th) and Amherst (28th) were in the 32 team field. New England qualifying race winner Elise Tropiano of Amherst was the individual silver medalist.

In the men's race, the men from Purple Valley matched their women's team placing of third behind Cortland (NY) State; they were led by NE qualifier winner Edgar Kosgey (Eldoret Kenya) in 10th. Trinity (CT) was seventh, with Brandeis (20th) and Amherst (24th) also in the chase.

Division II racing was at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, where Adams State (Colorado) swept the team wins. The Northeast Region team reps in both races were U.Mass-Lowell and Stonehill. Top locals were UML senior Ruben Sanca in 45th, and Bentley University senior Melissa Nash (63rd). Men's team placings found Lowell 13th and Stonehill 19th, while the women's teams reversed order, with the SkyHawks 21st and the RiverHawks 22nd among 24 teams.

Monday, the Division I titles were on the line at Indiana State University, and the top ranked teams going in held true to form, as Washington's women and Oregon's men took the top step on the podium. Vermont's Andrew Wheating was 7th man (75th overall) for Oregon. Deeper in the men's race, Providence was the sole NE men's team in 20th spot, as sophomore David McCarthy led the way in 19th overall. Women's rankings had two NE squads, Providence, fronted by Danette Doetzel in 31st in a creditable 13th place, and Boston College in 27th in the 32 school field. First local finisher across the line was Andrea Walkonen of Boston University in 21st.

A number of other six-state high school products were competitor for squads making the big show, and full results for all three division races are at ncaachampionships.com .

The winning individuals and coaches of the top teams at last weekend's NCAA Division III national qualifying meet at Williams are among a select group receiving Regional Athlete and Coach of the Year Awards from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association today.

Men's race winner Edgar Kosgey (Williams) and women's victor Elise Tropiano (Amherst) were runaway champions who led their teams to a spot on the starting line in this coming weekend's NCAA DIII championships.

Coaches of the top teams received regional honors as well, with Pete Farwell completing a Williams sweep of the men's awards, and Terry Aldrich, the coach of Middlebury's top-ranked women's team. Williams' men have had two wins and nine top-10 finishes since 1994 under Farwell's tutelage, while Aldrich hopes to bring home Middlebury's fifth national title Saturday in Hanover IN.

Junior Olympic XC Midget Girl's winner Molly McCabe
(photo: Bill Spencer)

The USATF NE Junior Olympics raced at the Burrillville Middle School in Rhode Island for the first time, and the largest number of entries in several years - 550 - ran competitive races to secure spots for next week's Region I meet.

The midget girls race was a tight battle and may well be a preview of how the Nationals (December 13 in Virginia) will look at the front, as GCS Triad responded to the challenge of several other clubs to win. Granite State Flash scored a perfect 15 to win the Youth boys division, and qualified their B team as well; 6 total Flash squads will race regionals. Nitehawks Sports Club was almost as good, scoring 17 in the midget boys. Other clubs winning team titles included Nashua PAL and the host Sentinel Striders.

The full results may be enjoyed at the NE cross country page. The top 3 teams and individuals in the top 20 at Region I Van Cortlandt Park in New York on November 23 qualify for the Nationals.

One new event, several repeat races, and a pair of returnees will highlight the 2009 USATF-New England Grand Prix series. The seven Road Race Championships composing the coming year's series were selected Monday evening at Brandeis University.
Thirteen races were whittled down to the selected seven through a number of close votes. The Lone Gull 10K in Gloucester MA will be a first time championship, and the Bedford Rotary 12K and DH Jones 10 Mile both return after a few years out of the circuit. The events covers three of the association's 4 states (no bids from Vermont races) and for the most part, do not conflict with other USATF-NE series or championship events.

The 2009 schedule:
Feb 22 - DH Jones 10 Mile, Amherst MA
Mar 15 - New Bedford Half-Marathon, New Bedford MA
May 16 - Bedford Rotary 12K, Bedford NH
June 7 - Rhody 5K, Lincoln RI
Sept 12 - Ollie 5 Mile, South Boston MA
Sept 20 - Lone Gull 10K, Gloucester MA
Oct 18 - Bay State Marathon, Lowell MA

Congratulations to those races, and thanks to those others who submitted bids.
Final results of 2008 are posted on the GP Page

Providence college grads and internationalists Mary Cullen and Dylan Wykes put on one-runner shows in winning the USATF-New England cross country championship races at Franklin Park on Sunday.

Irish ace Cullen, training in Providence and who had set a new Franklin Park 5K course record at the Mayor's Cup 2 weeks ago, again ran from the front and recorded the third fastest 6K time ever - 19:39 - in winning her third NE race. Her previous golds were in 2005 and 2006, the latter being the old CR of 19:48. Joan Nesbitt set the circuit standard at 19:15 at the 1995 USA Nationals.

Wykes, who ran for the BAA for several years after college before returning to his native Canada, dominate the men's race passing the 8K mark in a time that would have been in the money at the Mayor's Cup, and continued on to clock 30:04 for the 10K contest the fastest on the course since Keith Kelly's win in 2003.

Jenn Donovan (New Balance Boston) and Harry Norton (Lynx Elite) copped the New England titles; it was the first NE championship of any type for both harriers. Donovan's win and teammate Rolland Lavallee's 3rd place in the men's summaries led their club to a pair of second place finishes behind the B.A.A. (37-40 for women, 33-59 for men).

Ageless Joan Samuelson ventured south from Maine to run the course her two children had races at the NE college championships in October, and proved that she could still run varsity for just about every college in the 6 state region as the 52 year old placed 11th overall in the open/masters women's race in 21:56. Tops among 40-49 was Christine Reaser (Dirigo), with Patty Foltz (GLRR) and Marlenna Yannetti (CSU) took 60+ and 70+ titles, respetively. Liberty AC swept the 40+, 50+, and 60+ team titles.

Masters Men ran a separate 8K contest, with Dan Franek (Dirigo) fastest over the four loops in 26:. Led by Mike Nahom and Kent Lemme in second and third, Greater Springfield Harriers held off the Dirigo group 37-44 for the 40+ plaque. Greater Lowell beat Green Mountain 21-35 in the 50+ scoring, and GCS Triad was the sole 60+ team, and hence the winners.

Full results are at the XC page.

The NCAA Division II National Qualifier for the Northeast Region followed the New England Championships, and the competition was just as spirited as the earlier races. Meet host U.Mass-Lowell and state rival Stonehill repeated as the two team qualifying spots for the national meet at Slippery Rock State (PA) in two weeks; the scores were 43-54 for the men, and 46-56 for the women.

The winning Riverhawks also had the race winners; Ruben Sanca ran to a convincing win in the men's race in 30:31, as his time would have been second in the earlier NE championship race, while teammate Christina DaLomba broke the field in the final mile to lead the women's race.

The New England HS championships took to the challenging traditional Derryfield Park course in Manchester NH. Mark Feigen (East Greenwich RI) pulled a mild upset over state champ and Brown Invite champ Andrew Westerly (Westerly RI) fo the individual gold, while Danbury CT, Amity CT, and Hanover NH went a close 1-2-3 in 129-137-143. Talk about a high densiity finish; 200 runners finished between 16:00 and 17:59!

The girls race was headed by soph Abbey Leonardi (Kennebunk ME) with Glastonbury CT, outdistancing Hanover NH and LaSalle RI 8-150-188 among the teams . Results are at lancertiming.com.

The Massachusetts schedule is 2 weeks behind the rest of New England, so were contesting their divisional championships on Saturday. Several notable performances were registered in the eastern Mass. meet; first, senior Emily Lanois of Hamilton-Wenham ran to her fourth straight Division IV win. She led her H-W Generals to the lowest D-IV winning score ever, 27 points. In Division I, pair of nationally ranked squads duked it out, with Newton South bettering Lincoln Sudbury 29-35; coach Steve McChesney's total was also a new D-I record score. In Central MA, Emily Jones (Bromfield/Harvard MA) was 1:15 better than any other girl on the day for a repeat D2 win. Results for all Mass. divisional meets are at Coolrunning.com.

The selection meeting for next year's USATF New England Road Race Grand Prix races will be held at 7PM on Monday, November 10, at Brandeis University in the Gosman Athletic Center (the same site at last year). All USATF-NE members as of October 1 have a vote in selecting the 7 race series. The order of selection is drawn randomly on meeting night, and events make presentations by race distance.

And, if you know of a race that might want to bid to host a 2009 Championship, there is still time to submit a bid. Go to the Grand Prix page and download a bid form. They are due back in the office by Friday, November 8.
Contact the office if you have any questions.

The USA Track & Field Foundation and sponsors - Twin Cities Marathon, Chevron Houston Marathon and Marathonguide.com - announced the 2008 USA Distance Project Individual Athlete Grants. Among the five recipients receiving a $4,000 grant are New England runners Molly Huddle (Providence RI) and Nate Jenkins (Lowell MA). Huddle, part of the Run Providence initiative, represented the USA at the World Cross Country Championship in March and won the USA 10K Road Championship held at the Tufts 10K for Women race in Boston three weeks ago. Jenkins recorded a surprising 8th place finish at the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials and has placed highly in other major US road events this year; he's an assistant coach at U.Mass-Lowell.

The USA Distance Project, dedicated to advancing elite distance running in America through support of group training centers and "up & coming" athletes, is a collaborative partnership between major distance running events, USA Track & Field, and the USA Track & Field Foundation.

For more information on the USA Track & Field Foundation, please visit usatffoundation.org.

Mayor's Cup women's winner Mary Cullen
(photo courtesy the B.A.A)

A record field of more than 1,000 entrants and a course-record run by Mary Cullen highlighted the 19th edition of the Mayor's Cup Cross Country Races, presented by the Boston Athletic Association and adidas, and directed by USATF-New England and the Boston Centers for Youth & Families. Overnight rains didn't discourage anyone from making the trip to Boston's Franklin Park.

As more than 300 kids, ages 14 and under, took part in the morning slate of youth events, the rain and clouds gave way to sunny, blue skies. The winners of the age-group 1.1 mile races were

10-and-under: Jeremy Taylor (Waltham TC) 6:56; Girls: Leah Brams (Waltham TC) 7:18 11-12 Boys: Jeremy Alley-Tarter (Nitehawks SC) 6:11; Girls: Julia Kern (Waltham TC) 6:37 13-14 Boys: Daniel Ewart (Granite State Flash) 5:44; Girls: Robin Gross (Waltham TC) 6:30

The Franklin Park 5K, open to men and women of all ages and ability levels boasted 280 finishers this year, up from 187 a year ago. Leading the charge was Jordan Hamm, a high school senior from Buffalo, NY, ahead of Omar Aden and Ahmed Ali, high school teammates from Charlestown, MA. Brandeis grad Caitlin Malloy recorded a comfortable 37-second victory in the women's division.

In the Women's Championship 5K, two-time defending champ Aziza Aliyu of the Westchester Track Club was looking to become the first woman to win three straight Mayor's Cup titles. Yet despite running faster than she had in either of her victories, Ayilu found herself chasing former Providence College star Cullen (Providence, RI) from the gun. Cullen, the runner-up here in 2005, led the pack through one mile in a brisk 5:07, and by two miles she was alone in front. By the time she broke the finish tape in 16:08, Cullen was 28 seconds ahead of runner-up Ayilu, as well as 14 seconds under the meet and course record set by Kathy Franey in 1997. Cullen is preparing for the European Cross Country Championships in Belgium, where she will represent her native Ireland.

In the Men's Championship 8K a large pack, which included 2006 champ Stephen Chemlany (Westchester TC), passed through one mile in 4:35 and two miles in 9:35. By four miles, reached in 19:35, Jacob Korir (KEN / Richmond, KY) had emerged at the front, and shortly after that he surged away unopposed for the win. Breaking the tape in 23:54, he was 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Sean Burris. A three-time NCAA All-American while at Eastern Kentucky University, Korir was sixth in the 2007 NCAA cross country championship. He now represents the RIADHA club out of New York.

The Westchester Track Club and New Balance Boston captured the men's and women's team titles, respectively.

Full results and pictures are at coorunning.com, with more info at baa.org. (Story courtesy of the BAA)