The Middlesex Boys' Cross-Country team started the 2013 season with record-setting performances on the Nobles and BBN courses, picking up just where they left off at the end of last year's stellar season.
 
Led by co-captain Peter Howe, the varsity boys have secured decisive wins over seven opponents to date, while setting the new course records.  This accomplishment is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that co-captain - and harrier extraordinaire - Garrett O'Toole is side-lined indefinitely with a stress fracture in his left foot.
 
The strength of the team lay in its formidable "pack" of well-conditioned competitors, including Howe, Viraj Deokar, Lucas Estrada, and newcomer Gavin Fujimori.  Only 30 seconds behind this front group, however, is the second wave, consisting of Will Fletcher and Miles Petrie, while Max Rifkin (who, last Saturday, outran all but three runners from the opposing teams) clinches the "argument."
 
At the moment, Viraj holds the record on the Nobles course while Peter owns the BBN record.  It will not be surprising if these two runners trade such honors as the season advances, depending upon how the terrain of the various courses plays to the strengths of each competitor.
 
Coincidentally, the JV team has also posted some impressive wins (6) – and in similar fashion.  Though Eric Dolce has been setting an impressive pace in these first two contests, he has enjoyed plenty of support from veteran "law-firm" members Christian Papadellis and Jordan Phinney, along with new partners Jack Yoon and Tristan Collins.  The two Matts – McKenna and Kafker – have been making the closing arguments for the team, while Rock Hoffman has been making a strong effort to approach the bench.
 
Next week – and again at the Fresh Pond course that will also serve this year as home base for Belmont Hill - Middlesex faces a pair of strong contending teams, with St. Mark's (last year's 2nd-place finishers in the ISL Championship) and the always-aggressive Belmont Hill, bound to bring their best "game" in hopes of unseating the defending league champions.