By Ryan Lanigan || HockomockSports.com
In a dramatic final charge, Landon Sarney powered past John Bianchi and claimed the MIAA Meet of Champions Division 1 individual title right at the finish line.
Sarney entered the final stretch behind Bianchi, but as the finish line inched closer, so did Sarney. He made his move, passing Bianchi and leaning across the finish line to win by 0.26 seconds as seen in dramatic video captured by MetroWest Daily News reporter Tim Dumas.
“I knew he had a pretty sizable gap on me, but I knew from last spring track that I could kind of close a race pretty hard,” Sarney said in an interview with BayStateRun after the race. “I knew I had some leeway and I knew I could kind of close it up a little more and I was able to get it right at the line.”
“[Winning] was definitely a goal coming into it. I never really thought anything else, you know. It’s nothing to lose at this point in the season.”
It capped a dominant season for Sarney, who went undefeated in all five Hock dual meets, set three course records, took first place at the Hockomock League championship, and was second overall in the D1C race where the Tigers took first as a team.
“For an athlete like Landon Sarney, every day, he’s trying to find a way to get just a little stronger, a little faster,” OA head coach Kyle Sousa told HockomockSports.com. “He’s trading miles for inches — hours of training for a few precious seconds on the race course. There is something special about a moment where all those sacrifices add up to achieving something amazing. I watched him pay the price of that win a thousand times over, and it was a historic moment for the team to watch Landon put it all together into such an incredible race.”
Sarney (15:33.28) is the third Tiger all-time to win an all-state title, joining Andy Powell in 1998 and Mike Moverman in 2008, who both took first in the Division 2 All State race.
Oliver Ames finished seventh overall as a team with a score of 250. Brookline had all five of its runners finish inside the top 30 and won the team title with 67 points. Devon McStowe (16:22.64) took 30th while Lawrence Dear (16:54.17) was 72nd. Colin Donahue (17:03.45) and Jake Hauvuy (17:17.58) also scored for the Tigers.
North Attleboro junior Anthony Malakidis capped a strong season with a sixth place finish in the Division 1 race, crossing in 15:58.29. Sharon’s Alex Pinnix (17:02.61), Franklin’s Kyle Twomey (17:03.38), and Attleboro’s Owen Lacaillade (17:04.82) all cracked the top 100 in the Division 1 race at Fort Devens.
In the Division 2 race, Foxboro’s Timmy Chase (17:10.55) took 42nd overall and Canton’s Tristan Grant finished in 18:09.61.
On the girls’ side, Canton junior Lauren Raffetto secured fifth overall to lead the Bulldogs to a second place finish as a team. Raffettoclocked in at 18:28.08, sophomore Adileh Azar crossed in 19:49.51, Lexi Piazza was 35th overall in 20:31.48, Isabella Holland crossed in 20:47.21, and Madeleine Driscoll was the fifth Bulldog across the line in 21:39.46.
Boston Latin Academy took first with 115 points while Canton finished with 149 points.
Foxboro sophomore Emma Dorich capped an impressive season for the Warriors with a 26th place finish, clocking in at 20:06.01.
Junior Kathleen Beaulieu was once again the leader of the pack for Hock runners in the Division 1 race, clocking in at 19:48.58 for 44th overall. The Tigers finished 18th as a team with 454 points with Devin Thomas (20:31.29), Ashley Powers (20:52.08), Erin Reilly (21:42.76), and Norah Dupill (21:49.00) also factoring into the scoring.
Franklin’s Victoria Courtright-Lim capped her senior season with a time of 20:18.69 while King Philip junior Ashley Cleverdon crossed the finish line at 20:57.44.