Martha’s Vineyard boys excel at 38th Manchester Invitational

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The Vineyard varsity boys pose with the fifth place trophy. From left: Isaiah Maynard, Kyle Joba-Woodruff, Cooper Chapman, James Roddy, Jeremy Alley-Tarter, Mike Schroeder, Sam Oslyn, and coach Joe Schroeder. — Photo by Andrew Wiley

The Vineyard harriers traveled to the Granite State last Saturday for the 38th Manchester Invitational at Derryfield Park. Nearly 2,000 athletes from across New England and New York State competed in the prestigious event.

The Vineyard boys teams, both varsity and jayvee, had quite a day for themselves. The varsity, led by Mike Schroeder, finished fifth out of 35 teams in the small school division, the best Vineyard showing to date. The result put a nice piece of hardware in the MVRHS trophy case. Mike Schroeder and Julian Kelly received individual medals for placing in the top 30.

The small school boys varsity race produced the fastest times on the day. So swift were they, that Mike Schroeder, who ran 17 seconds faster than last year and finished in 17:13, actually dropped three places from 18th overall in 2011 to 21st. Cooper Chapman (17:35) beat his 2011 time by 15 seconds but fell from 21st to 36th.

Kyle Joba-Woodruff was the third Vineyarder to the tape, running the 3.1-mile course in 17:39, to finish 38th of 252 runners. Next was Sam Oslyn (17:47, 44th), Isaiah Maynard (a personal best 18:03, 55th), and Jeremy Alley-Tarter (18:33, 79th).

The jayvee boys placed 10th out of 44 schools in what is the largest race of the day, with 347 runners competing from both small and large schools.

Julian Kelly, the first Vineyarder, clocked in at a personal best 18:08, good for 25th place. Andrew Wiley finished 35th with a personal best of 18:25. Next were George Sykes (18:57, 70th); Thorpe Karabees (19:09, 80th); Job deForest (19:24, 100th); Galen Mayhew (19:50, 126th); and Jack O’Malley (20:53, 189th).

In the 2.1-mile boys freshman race, Nate D’ Angelo led the way with a time of 12:52 (58th of 239 runners), followed by Silas Berlin (13:05, 72nd); Chase Silvia (13:39, 111th); and Tucker Cosgrove (14:21, 150th).

The Vineyard girls ran well against very stiff competition and placed 20th out of 30 teams.

Julia Neville was the leading lady for the Vineyarders and finished 44th out of 200 runners, in a time of 21:42. Willoe Maynard timed in at 23:12 to finish 97th. Next were Hannah Moore (23:33, 105th); Lilly Neville (23:42, 109th); Phoebe Dandeneau (25:29, 145th); and an ailing Lucy Norris, who gutted out a time of 26:17 (160th).

Willow Wunsch led the Vineyard jayvee girls to the tape in 25:51 (159th of 285). Carter D’ Angelo was next (27:25, 208th); Katherine Reid, third, (28:33, 234th); and Sarah Dawson, fourth, (29:40, 250th).

Maisie Jarrell was the lone Vineyarder in the girls freshman race, running the challenging 2.1-mile course in 19:14 (146th).

After racing in Manchester, coach Joe Schroeder and his harriers headed for Northern Maine and their annual rafting trip. The Vineyarders returned home on Sunday night and faced EAC foe Bishop Stang in North Dartmouth on Wednesday afternoon. M.V. will participate in the Ocean State meet Saturday at Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick, R.I.