Garrett Scanlon knew exactly where he wanted to be once the gun was fired for the start of the Skee Carter Bronco Invitational.
“I just wanted to get in a good position from the start,” Scanlon said. “I just kind of got out in first and didn’t see anyone from there.”
In a wire-to-wire victory, the East Greenwich senior captured the individual title in Thursday’s race by covering the fast, five-kilometer layout in a time of 16 minutes, 2 seconds. He was followed closely by senior teammate Graham Chapski, just a few strides behind in second at 16:03.
Scanlon and Chapski’s 1-2 finish spurred East Greenwich to the team title with a convincing 27-51 decision over second-place North Kingstown. Scituate was third with 89 points and last year’s champion Mount St. Charles finished fourth with 173 points.
Scanlon, Chapski and the North Kingstown duo of seniors Dallin Smith and Robert Rocchio were among a tight bunch at the two-mile mark. Scanlon made his most decisive move up the steep incline that exits out of the wooded section of the course onto the mostly-flat final mile.
Chapski was the only runner who could respond to the move.
“It was kind of right there on the trails where I felt I had to pull away,” Scanlon said. “Rocchio and Smith were with us and they are really tough. I just tried to 
kick it in from there. That was kind of the plan. I knew the third mile would be pretty quick.”
Smith eventually placed third at 16:09.88 and Rocchio secured fourth at 16:12.75. The Avengers, who won the inaugural race back in 2006, had a fifth-place finish from junior Tommy Sommer, who was timed in 16:20. EG sophomore Dylan DePriest was ninth in 16:48.06 and senior Angelo Acker was tenth with a time of 16:35.95 to complete the scoring.
Scanlon, who has had a strong season this fall, is looking forward to the state championship on Nov. 2, a meet he placed tenth in 2012. He’s aiming to make first-team all state.
“That’s my goal,” he said. “I am seeded seventh right now. Top five, that’s what I want.”
Rounding out the top 10 finishers in Thursday’s race was Mount St. Charles senior Elijah Tousignant (sixth, 16:40.57), North Kingstown senior Jonathan Carney (seventh, 16:43.70) and Scituate junior Ian Gould (eighth, 16:47.09).