The Pinkerton boys cross country team will be trying to make history Saturday at the New England meet at Wickham Park in East Hartford, Conn.
And 28-year Pinkerton coach Mike Clark can hardly wait.
"This is going to be one exciting race, and we're going to be ready," said Clark. "This is the one elusive championship for the Long Red Line (Pinkerton) and we think we're right there.
"We've been New England runner-up four times, we've had an individual national champion (Matt Downin) and we've won Class L titles, but not this."
Clark believes that the race for top honors will be a battle of the same three teams that battled in the Elite Race at the Manchester Invitational back in September. Bishop Hendricken (R.I.) came in first with 57 points followed by Bishop Guertin (60) and the Astros (73).
However, at that race, No. 2 man Jake Hawkins was unable to compete for the Astros because of a hamstring injury, an absence that may have prevented Pinkerton from finishing first. And Hawkins is now in peak shape as he showed by placing fifth at last Saturday's Meet of Champions.
"I really believe the New England championship will be the second running of what happened at Class L (where Bishop Guertin edged Pinkerton even with the Astros placing four runners in the top 10 and averaging 16:12 per runner)," said Clark. "That was an epic race and this should be, too."
Following the Class L meet, Pinkerton made the Harrier Magazine top 25 national rankings, coming in 23rd, four places behind Bishop Guertin.
To defeat Guertin, the Astros will need continues superb races by No. 1 Chris Pietrocarlo, Hawkins and star sophomore Anthony Anzivino as well as a strong finish from the pack that follows. Pietrocarlo missed the Meet of Champions with a mild case of the flu.
Guertin, meanwhile, is hoping that superstar senior Francis Hernandez of Windham is recovered from the flu symptoms that slowed him down last week at the Meet of Champions.
Bradford team shines
The Bradford Elementary cross country team in Haverhill, in its second full year under Matt Castonguay, is having an excellent season.
Both the boys and girls teams qualified for the AAU national championships at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., in December. They qualified in Wayland last month.
Also, both the boys and girls team came in second place at the Stage Fort Park North Shore Invitational in Gloucester among 16 girls schools and 19 boys schools.
Finally, the boys team came in first place at the Mayor's Cup championships at Franklin Park in Boston. and the girls team came in third place.
Health a key at class meets
The Methuen boys and Haverhill girls will both be prime contenders Saturday at the Division 1 class meet at Franklin Park, but their fate will probably be determined by their health.
The Rangers must hope that junior Cam Kelley is back at full strength following a hip issue at the Merrimack Valley Conference meet. And the Hillies still aren't sure if senior standout Christine McNaughton will be recovered from a more serious hip injury that has kept her out of action for more than a month.
And, like other teams, Methuen and Haverhill are hoping that they're not hit by the flu this week.
The class meets get underway at 9:30 a.m. with the Division 1 boys set for 11:30 a.m. and the Division 1 girls scheduled for 12:25 p.m.
Stoglin's frustrations boil over following Duke loss-2/12
Timonen "disappointed" in teammates' effort
Morganti: 'Rangers' power play demolished the Flyers'
Timonen: 'I think we got half the guys going and half the guys not'
More shootout woes in store for the Flyers when they face the Red Wings?
The Rangers have the Flyers' number
St. Joseph's vs. Massachusetts Highlights - 2/11
Penn vs. Dartmouth Highlights - 2/11
Drexel vs. Hofstra Highlights - 2/11
La Salle vs. St. Louis Highlights - 2/11
John Wall talks about the loss to the Heat-2/10
Collins takes the blame for the Sixers' final possession
Sixers vs. Clippers highlights
Sixers defensive effort not enough vs. Clippers
Post game plus crew on the Sixers loss
Rose and Zumoff recap the Sixers last second loss
Penn vs. Harvard highlights
Stefon Diggs chooses Maryland, Randy Edsall comments-2/10
Cal Ripken says the Orioles will go as far as their pitching-2/10
Sandusky makes a statement
Julien: 'did it the hard way'
McAdam's Spring Training primer
Doc: Team's effort is 'un-Celtic'
Pierce stresses mental toughness
Globe 10.0 Who was the best free agent in Boston?
Maria Menounos dons a Giants-colored bikini after losing Super Bowl bet-2/7
Thomas' moratorium: 'I'm out, peace'
Gasol: 'Not pleasant' being part of trade rumor
Blakely: Gasol-for-Rondo trade unlikely
Brady-ing is Latest Internet Meme
Globe 10.0: Is Paul Pierce the Celtics greatest scorer?
Ranking Pierce among Celtics greats
Garnett's tale of first meeting Paul Pierce
Pierce's loyalty touted after big night
Hurt Locker: Patriots react to Super Bowl loss
Brown: 'Eli Manning is better than Tom Brady'
Local fans crushed by Patriots loss in Super Bowl XLVI
Marcus Johansson Caps lone goal in loss to Bruins-2/5
Matt Hendricks throws down with the Bruins' Adam McQuaid--2/5
Vinatieri, Law, Brown recount Super Bowl XXXVI
