The Masco Cross Country Team is an emerging program showing strong potential for future success.
The Boys XC Team has made a very clear statement that they have many goals for this current season.
Dating back to 1960, the XC team has been making a significant statement in the running field for a long time, having won 20 league championships and one state championship during this period.
They have so much to look forward to this year, with a lot of new runners joining the program and new captains to lead the large team of players.
The coach of the XC team, Patrick Mahoney, is also very excited about this year and has high hopes for them.
“Our two major goals this year are to win the NEC Meet Championship and qualify for the All-State Meet of Champions for the 3rd year in a row,” said Mahoney. “We have not won the NEC Meet yet, and as far as we can tell, no Masco team has made the Meet of Champions three years in a row.”
The team is hoping that its 13 freshmen joining the program, along with their very strong captains, senior Owen Walsh and juniors Zander Hamlin, Jack Duval, and Duncan Cullinane, will lead the team.
Mahoney said the future is very bright for the program and believes the team is in good hands for next year, if anyone is interested in joining the team.
Walsh said all grades and levels of runners are combined and all run together, and that’s something that other sports don’t do. There are separate Varsity, JV, and Freshman teams for other sports. He said, “It feels more connected than any other sport.”
Walsh also said his favorite part about being on the team is being a captain now because he is someone that other runners can look up to. Hamlin also loves being a captain for more of the same reasons.
“What makes XC so special to me is that we have so many unique personalities on this team,” said Hamlin. “Honestly, you go to everybody individually; they are just a different person to be around, and it creates a great environment for the team.”
Hamlin said that the team is going to do great this year based on how fun it is to be around the team during practice and even outside of practice.
“We have the best home course on the North Shore. Our meets are at Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield, MA. It is a beautiful course where you can see the runners many times during the race,” Coach Mohoney said. “There is nowhere I would rather be on a fall afternoon than at our course at Bradley. ”
The 3-1 Boys XC team is looking forward to people showing up and making some noise for a strong group with many good things to be excited for.