La Salle Academy Boys Take Redemption At New Englands

The 2020 New England XC Championships were supposed to be held in Thetford Vermont, but due to Covid-19, they were pushed back one year. This meant that this year's top 25, and top six teams would face Thetford in Vermont. One of the most difficult and unforgiving courses in the region. In the days leading up to it, rain poured onto the course making it 3.11 miles of muddy rolling hills. This is the kind of race where anything could truly happen and the kind of race where upsets could occur. In the individual battle, the favorites took the title, but the team battle produced some surprises and close calls.   

Déjà Vu for the La Salle Academy Boys?

In 2018, the La Salle Academy Boys had lost the Rhode Island State meet by just 5 points 30-35. The next week at New England's; they went on to win New England's by 31 points in 49-80. That La Salle team included Jack Casey and Adam Thibodeau. Flash forward two years to 2021. La Salle Academy goes into the State Meet after upsetting the field at Class A, but an injury to Phil Simas, their third man, causes them to finish in 3rd for the first time in a decade. This could have been the nail in the coffin for their season, but instead, it was the fuel for their fire.

They were led by the previously mentioned Casey and Thibodeau whom both finished All-New England. Phil Simas was unable to finish due to an injury at states, but just one week later he found himself top 40 in New England and finishing between the 2nd and 4th place finishers at the state meet one week earlier. Their 4 and 5 were David Parenteau and Lachlan Bishop who were 91st and 93rd overall at just above 18 minutes.

Their team score was 162 points, and they found themselves tied for second with Ridgefield, Connecticut. This led the officials to look at the sixth runners of both schools. It turns out that the 6th runners finished with .5 seconds of each other, but Raymond Flores of La Salle was ahead of Ridgefield's 6 and gave them second overall. This continues La Salle's streak of podium finishes at New England's to 3 years as they won in 2018, and 2019.  

Full Results