Phillips,
DiCamillo Lead the Charge at the
21st Mayor’s Cup in Franklin
Park
Race Results
BOSTON ÛÓ Overcast skies and little wind
greeted a record crowd at the 21st annual Mayor’s Cup Cross Country
races in Boston’s Franklin
Park on Sunday, October 24. The cross country event features a trio
of 1.1 mile youth races, an open 5K, a 5K Women’s Championship, and an 8K Men’s
Championship, respectively, weaving through the foliage of Franklin Park, one of
the best venues for cross country racing in the country. The Mayor’s Cup is
annually presented by the B.A.A. and adidas, and directed by USA Track &
Field – New England and Boston Centers for Youth and Fitness
(BCYF).
(Former Providence College harrier Katie DiCamillo breaks the tape ahead of the NYAC’s Reilly Kiernan. Photo by FitzFoto)
In the 8K Men’s Championship, Jon
Phillips of the New York Athletic Club avenged his 18th place finish
from 2009 with a winning time of 23:54. The 26-year-old shaved 1:15 from his
previous year’s performance. “I would fall off the leader, and then catch up,
throughout the race,” Phillips said of his strategy. Having experience on this
course, Phillips used his familiarity to his advantage. “It was coming off of
Bear Cage Hill where I knew I wanted to push on the downhill, and that’s where
the big move was made.” Phillips, currently an assistant track coach with NYU,
never looked back, and coasted to a three second victory ahead of Harbert Okuta
(23:57), and four seconds ahead of Abiyot Endale (23:58). With a heavy racing
schedule in recent months, Phillips has become consistent with his autumn
training. “I train with NYU guys, and that helps me out a lot, and the NYAC guys
are great to train with as well.”
The New York Athletic Club, which is
preparing for the club cross country championships in December, had seven
runners in event, but it was the B.A.A. which took the team title. Led by
Boston native
Ruben Sanca, the B.A.A. won with 46 points. Sanca, who placed fifth with a time
of 24:06, got his start in running at Dearborn Middle
School as part of the B.A.A. Middle
School Cross Country Championships in 2000, and has
since excelled both at O’Bryant High School and UMass Lowell. New Balance Boston
placed second in the team competition with 72 points, and NYAC placed third with
98 points.
In the Masters division, Joseph
Koech was the winner with a time of 25:41. A member of Team Run, Koech has found
success in Franklin Park before, having recently won the Masters division in the
B.A.A. Half Marathon on October 10 with a time
of 1:11:07
(L-R: The BAA’s Ruben Sanca and Tim Ritchie flank runner-up Harbert Okati, Race winner Jon Phillips is behind Ritchie. Photo by FitzFoto)
In the 5K Women’s Championship,
Katie DiCamillo of New Balance Boston used a late downhill surge to push past
Reilly Kiernan of the NYAC for a two-second victory in a time of 17:06. A
Providence
College graduate, DiCamillo
is no stranger to the course, and placed sixth in the same event last year. This
year, she bided her time; “At mile two, I let the leader go ahead of me because
I wanted to stay comfortable as we were going into the backwoods. At the last
little bump, I got [Kiernan] on the downhill and took it form
there.”
Jenn Donovan, a teammate of
DiCamillo finished third in 17:15. Together they led New Balance Boston to win
the Women’s team competition with 28 points, ahead of the B.A.A. (55 points) and
the NYAC (91). The B.A.A.’s Mimi Fallon won the Masters division with a time of
19:57.
In the Franklin
Park 5K, 20-year-old Jeremy Gilmour beat 21-year-old Gregorious
Wilson by a time of 15:53 to 15:59. Toni Tugores finished third with a time of
16:07. On the Women’s side, Kristen Coon coasted to a 56-second victory over
Amanda Shaffer (18:41 to 19:37). Emily Ricketson finished third in a time of
6:22.
The 21st Annual Mayor’s
Cup has grown by leaps and bounds since its inaugural running in 1990 with just
one race and a handful of runners. With time, the Mayor’s Cup has matriculated
into six events, more than one thousand participants, and a combined prize purse
of $5,700 distributed to the winners.
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The record turnout at the Mayor’s
Cup caps a busy month for presenting l sponsor B.A.A. After hosting a record
field on a revised course in the 10th annual B.A.A. Half Marathon on the 10th, the Association opened
and closed registration for next April’s Boston Marathon in just eight hours on
Monday, October 18. On Thursday, it hosted the Boston Middle School Cross
Country Championships, a pro-active measure taken by the Association to foster
an interest in running among the athletes of tomorrow. One consistent theme
through all four occasions is an unprecedented level of interest in B.A.A.
events. The B.A.A. and adidas have played host to the Mayor’s Cup since 1997. A
video recap of the event will be posted in the coming days at www.youtube.com/TheBostonMarathon,
and the website of the B.A.A., www.baa.org.