ST SEBASTIAN’S

ATHLETICS
FALL SPORTS
average of 18:05 over the 5K
championship course, where they beat
Middlesex, Nobles, St. George’s,
Lawrence, and Rivers.
The Arrows also celebrated three
victories over Lexington Christian,
Lawrence, and St. George’s on the new
home course, where Ricky Mulroy
established a record of 18:04. In the final
home race against St. George’s over
Homecoming Weekend, one month into
the season with student fans and the
Headmaster cheering us to victory, the
Arrows averaged a 47 second drop from
their times the previous week on the same
course against Lawrence.
Ricky Mulroy and captain-elect Will
Adams ran in front for the Arrows all
season. Ricky battled with the top ISL
runners all season and earned
championship honors with a 6th place
finish at the ISL meet with a time of 16:32
and a 4th place finish at New England’s
with a time of 16:54. Since joining the
program as a middle schooler, Ricky has
run alone at the top of the St. Sebastian’s
pack, and his ability to progress so well
each season, without someone to catch
every day at practice, has been remarkable.
Even greater in his senior year, however, he
stepped into clear command of a young
team in search of experienced leadership.
His work ethic and focus transcend his
individual accomplishments and show
most clearly in the team that came together
this fall. Will Adams pushed himself at
practice with Ricky every day and remained
ahead of the bottom five for most of the
season. Despite illness in several of the
final races, Will ran an impressive 18:30 on
the wet Groton course for the New England
Championships to finish 25th. Both
runners have been stars for the others to
follow.
The individual progress was dramatic
and steady all season, especially from the
newcomers. Andrew Bono dropped 2:43
seconds in his first season and ended just
shy of breaking 21 minutes. Kevin Wolfe
started running with the middle pack at
practice and toward the end of the season
had shed 38 seconds to end with a 20:17,
which was a 3:11 improvement off of his
first race. Despite knee trouble throughout
the season, Nick Cortese earned a spot in
the varsity seven at the New England
Championships by running a 19:56 at ISL’s,
a 2:46 second drop off his first race. Nick’s
breakthrough came at Nobles when he
stuck with two Roxbury Latin runners to
finish third out of 33 in the JV race. Sam
“Extra Mile” Racine ended his last four
races under 23:00 with a season PR of
22:07, a mega-drop of 4:36 seconds at the
start of the year. Robbie Spencer made
significant drops in time to finish second
for us at the ISL Championship with an
18:15, over 4:00 faster than his first race.
With experience in the middle school
program, Terry O’Connor and Tom
Murphy never hesitated to see themselves
filling the varsity vacancies from last
season. Along with an excellent summer
base, Terry’s competitive spirit and
consistency not only brought him dramatic
improvements (2:43 seconds) this season
but also served as the anchor for pulling the
middle pack closer to Mulroy and Adams
in front. Terry ended with a very
respectable 18:19 at ISL’s. Tom also
dropped 2:43 seconds and broke 19:00 in
the ISL Championship. Kevin Lynch began
the season with major knee trouble but
rehabbed effectively and broke a twoseason
plateau with a lifetime PR of 19:36
in his final cross country race. Sean
Sullivan also returned this season with
many summer miles and developed foot
speed towards the end of the season to run
a 20:11, 1:05 faster than his PR last season.
Although Andrew DeMatteo encountered
knee trouble for parts of the season, he was
able to finish close to his lifetime PR at the
end. With a stronger base of summer
miles, he and the others could be in a
competitive position to beat teams like
Nobles, Thayer, and Brooks, that took us
during the regular season races. Although
finishing with a 4-10 record, many races
were within reach, and a tighter, more
experienced pack should prove beneficial
next fall. ■
Sports Awards
St. Sebastian’s School held a Fall
Athletic Awards Assembly on Tuesday,
December 1, 2009. All students
who participated in varsity sports received
letters. In addition, the following
regional and special awards
were presented to students.
All-League ISL (Independent School
League):
Football - Charley Allen, Will Connolly,
Mike Ewing, Max Kingsley,
Jake O’Malley, Brian Strachan
Soccer – Peirce Daly, Zane Stanton
Cross Country – Richard Mulroy
Honorable Mention All-League:
Football – Peter Burke, Noah McMillan,
Connor Wiik
Soccer – Ryan Hayes, Dillon Kerr
The Ennis Award was presented to
Andrew Phillips. This award is given
to the player who best exemplifies
the qualities of commitment, teamwork,
and outstanding attitude to
the football program.
The Big Hit Award was presented to
Christian Venditti. This award is
given to the football player who
leaves a ‘lasting impression’ on his
opponents.
The Peter Kerr Memorial Award was
presented to Peirce Daly. This award
is given to a soccer player for sportsmanship,
dedication to the team,
and commitment to the soccer program.
It is named in honor of Peter
Kerr, father of Peter '07 and Dillon
'11.
Richard Mulroy was named to the All
New England Prep School Cross
Country Team for the third straight
year.
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