Clinton harriers outrun Tahanto, Murdock.

Byline: Bill Marsh

CLINTON - After beating Murdock and Tahanto on Tuesday, the Clinton High School boys cross country team moved above the .500 mark, improving its record to 5-3.

The Gaels now own third place in the Midland-Wachusett League C Division with a 5-3 mark.

Jordan Comeau of Murdock won the race in 18 minutes and 19 seconds on the Blue Devils 3.1-mile home course. Tahanto's Brian McGahie was second in 18:33, while Clinton junior captain Joseph McDermott was third.

Gaels senior captain Jeremy Snyder was sixth overall, finishing in 19:41. Clinton's Avery DeCesare came in seventh, while Daniel Rojas took the 10th spot.

The Gaels beat both Murdock and Tahanto by an identical score, 27-28.

"Those were two real good wins for us," Clinton coach Mark Allard said. "It was two close wins, but we'll take them."

The Lady Gaels cross country team dropped both ends of the dual meet, losing 15-43 to Murdock and 15-48 to Tahanto.

Blue Devils senior Molly Martorella finished first for the girls, posting a time of 18:48. In second place was Kaitlin McGahie of Tahanto, who finished in 20:09.

The first Clinton runner to cross the finish line was senior captain Marissa Anderson, while junior captain Amanda Bont was second for the Lady Gaels. Ramesha Khan was third for Clinton, and senior Maddy Vacha finished fourth for the Lady Gaels.

With the two losses, the Clinton girls are still looking for their first victory of the season.

"The boys are a very young team," Allard said. "We are doing OK right now. We've had a couple of close wins and a couple of close losses.

"The girls are getting better," he said. "We haven't won anything yet, but they are putting the miles in and the attitude has been excellent. I am very happy with their progress."

Allard, who has coached Clinton cross country for over 20 years, is pleased with the captains on both teams.

"This is Jeremy's (Snyder) last year and we'll really miss him," Allard said. "He was out sick for a couple of meets, but he has come back and done well.

"Joe McDermott is the top runner, and he has been working hard and pretty much doing everything on his own," he said. "He went to running camp during the summer and that helped him focus.

"I can't say enough about the girls," he continued. "They always show up with smiles on their faces and they work hard."

According to Allard, DeCesare, a sophomore, and Rojas, a junior, have shown steady progress this season for the boys, as has William Schofield.

"Avery DeCesare has been a very pleasant surprise for us," Allard said. "He's only a sophomore, and he played football last year, but he is our third place runner right now.

"Danny (Rojas) has done well for us," he said. "Bill (Schofield) placed for us yesterday (in the dual meet) and we couldn't have won without him."

The members of the 2009 Clinton boys cross country team are Cameron Alden, Devin Almy, Ben Beyeler, Garrett Burns, Steven Chase, Sergio Colon, James Day, Thomas Hansen, Aurelio Jimenez, Ryan LeBlanc, Gonzalo Mendez, Cody Prudhomme, Alex Rodriguez, Jose Rodriguez, Ricardo Sanchez, William Spencer, Feenley Sylvain, Jonathan Tiru, Snyder, McDermott, DeCesare, Schofield, and Rojas.

The Lady Gael runners are Lindsey Duchnowski, Emily Notaro, Jessica Onnembo, Priscilla Suero, Anderson, Bont, Khan and Vacha.

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: The Clinton High School girls and boys cross country captains are (from left) Amanda Bont, Marissa Anderson, Jeremy Snyder, and Joseph McDermott.

PHOTOG: Item photo/BILL MARSH