Top-10 finishes for locals

By Jack McCluskey, Globe Correspondent | December 2, 2007

Running against long odds, the eighth-ranked Brookline boys' and 18th-ranked Lincoln-Sudbury girls' cross-country teams knew it would take an extraordinary effort to break the ribbon first at the Nike Cross-Country Team Nationals in Portland, Ore. The teams, competing as Brookline Track Club and Wicked XC, found themselves outpaced and ended with seventh- and eighth-place finishes.

David Wilson was Brookline's top finisher, placing seventh at 16:27.0 - 47 seconds behind Christopher Derrick of Naperville, Ill. The Massachusetts's representatives also got a strong race out of Robert Gibson, who checked in at 16:36.5 - good for 16th.

Those performances gave the Brookline squad a shot, but its next three runners ranked 45th, 60th, and 128th, and the team totaled 256 points, 131 behind champion Naperville XC. Danbury, Conn., edged by Brookline by a point in last weekend's Northeast Regional, also had a strong showing, finishing fifth.

Freshman Andrea Keklak finished 21st at 19:51.0 to pace Lincoln-Sudbury. Wicked XC's next three runners all finished in the top 50 - 39th, 43d, and 46th - for 250 points, 167 behind Manlius (N.Y.) XC. Madeline Morgan of Caution XC (Mountain Brook, Ala.) won in 18:54.5, almost a minute better than Keklak.

Claire Arthur (20:16.5), Dana Jamieson (20:27.6), and Ellie Hylton (20:29.5) gave solid performances behind Keklak.