On a perfect autumn day that fell upon Friday the 13th, the Middlesex Zebras faced Groton on our home course and, although the depth of the Grotonian Zebras proved too strong for a youthful Middlesex team, many boys posted promising individual results, including numerous personal best times.

Sophomore Justin O'Toole stayed with the Groton frontrunner into the final stretch and finished in 2nd place with a time of 17:53. Freshman Andrew Harris ran a composed race to come in 4th with a time of 18:47, while junior Jack Audett (8th), senior co-captain Luke Collins (10th) and sophomore Jack Starobin (12th) rounded out the team scoring, with freshman Mac Hadden hurdling by right behind him. Senior Kiran Tremblay ran a solid race to finish seventh for varsity.

In the JV race-within-a-race, freshman Gavin Cassidy ran with poise to come in 4th overall with a time of 20:33. Juniors Andrew Danoff (5th) and Sam Ferrone (6th) ran well together to be the next finishers for Middlesex, while freshmen Cannon Caspar and Zan Danoff rounded out the top five, and senior Zeke Golnik and junior John Fashek were close on their heels. The determination of all the runners during the race was notable, and the visitors from the north were commended for their sportsmanship and good cheer.

After a much-anticipated long weekend, as more and more leaves swirl down on the drying grass and season's morning frost, the eager and hungry Middlesex Zebras will travel to Washburn Park near Tabor Academy for a quad meet also against ISL rivals Rivers and BB&N.