THE WARRIORS are going for a state championship three-peat in 2018. (Courtesy Photo)

Published in the September 20, 2018 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

WAKEFIELD — There once existed a time when the Wakefield cross country team were underdogs.

Even last year, when the Warriors were reclassified to the large Div. 3, a repeat of their D4 state championship in 2016 seemed more like a faint possibility than a good chance.

Now, a three-peat? It’s more than imaginable.

Wakefield graduated plenty of great runners from last year’s team, but head coach Perry Pappas has built a program that continues to prosper. While some of the best runners in the state are in the spotlight, younger Warriors are getting better behind the scenes. Their opportunity will come eventually, so long as they earn it.

Many of the top seven runners on the 2018 team have already experienced some of that spotlight. Some of them represented the range that is necessary for a championship team. You can have the top two runners in the race, but it won’t get you a banner unless the whole team performs well.

The captains this year are seniors Casey Brackett, Rohan Singhvi and Billy Stevens.

Singhvi is widely considered one of the best runners in the state.

Stevens is coming off an illness that kept him out of Wakefield’s own time trial, but Pappas believes he will respond well and continue to make an improvement.

Brackett has improved to the point where Pappas wouldn’t be surprised to see teams eventually tailor their gameplans around him.

“They’ve learned from our leaders the past couple of years and know what it takes to win,” said Pappas of the captains. “I feel confident we can continue to have success with them as leaders.”

The Warriors return three runners who finished in the top 15 at the state meet last year: Singhvi (8th, 16:32.13), Stevens (15th, 16:48.38) and junior Matt Roberto (13th, 16:47.61). Those three will team up with Brackett and junior Tanner Jellison to make up the likely top five.

“We are as strong up front
as we’ve been recently, we just need to develop our depth,” said Pappas.

Seven score in a meet, and there are plenty of candidates to move into that group whether it’s senior Derryn Langlois, sophomore Zack Jellison, junior Jimmy Crump, junior Trevor Zupan, or junior Jack Callahan.

In order to build the depth of a championship team, the Warriors will need much more than seven to step up this season.

“We have a number of kids looking to make an improvement,” said Pappas. “We are trying to redevelop the depth. It’s a work in progress.”

The Warriors aren’t shying away from their goal of winning another league title and another D3 state championship. There aren’t planning on stopping there either.

Wakefield is currently ranked sixth in the state. They finished eighth at All-States last year and want to improve on that impressive performance.

It’s a team that has always been know for their relentless offseason training, but Pappas says the workouts are even ahead of where they were last year. The dedication, preparation and pure talent of this group means they expect a lot of themselves.

Pappas knows that with the state meet being two months away, a lot can change. The Warriors will race strategically against their Middlesex League opponents this year and focus on competing with the state’s best at invitationals throughout the season.

But for now, Wakefield is just excited to start their quest for the three-peat as they host Belmont in the first meet today. It’s a week later start than most seasons; the Warriors can’t wait to get out there.

“We’re really pleased with the progress of the returners and excited to see what the newcomers can do,” said Pappas. “They’re hungry. They’ve put in the work and now they want something to show for it.”