Lower Cape Cross Country Athletes Run Through The Night At Twilight Invitational

EAST FALMOUTH – More than 110 schools arrived at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds last Saturday for the annual Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational held by the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association.

Amid the swath of countless tents for each school covering the outdoor venue were the Cape Cod Tech, Nauset and Monomoy cross country teams. 

Maybe it’s the cool nighttime environment, or the buzzy crowds, or the layout of the windy course itself; whatever the reasons, the Twilight Invitational (a two-day weekend evening event, the first date being for small/medium schools and the second for large ones) is a generator of fast times.

That was certainly the case for the Lower Cape schools competing among the massive field of runners. The Crusaders, Warriors and Sharks all set several personal bests throughout the night.

Key word: massive. The event began with a co-ed 2.1-mile novice race, a combined total of 319 runners. The opening stretch at the starting line looked like a flash flood funneling through the grassy terrain.

Cape Tech sophomore Landon Donahue cut through the horde to finish 31st out of 172 male runners, with a time of 14:37.4.

“I've been to a couple 5Ks where it's around the same amount of people, but I've never actually had the experience where you're up in the front,” Donahue said. “But seeing what it looks like behind you, it's kind of insane with everybody pushing elbows and trying to find their spot in the race.”

The Twilight Invitational’s course is a weaving loop around the fairgrounds, including unique portions through the venue’s barns. The full 5-kilometer route is three laps. The last stretch is a downhill slingshot of a curve to the finish line.

“It's practically just run as fast as you can at the end there for the last 100 meters,” Donahue said.

Donahue, as a sophomore, has improved his time from last year by 14 minutes. He’s one of several contributors to a Cape Tech cross country cohort that’s undefeated in dual-meets this season (as of The Chronicle’s Tuesday deadline). 

His pace in the huge twilight novice race, if extrapolated to 5 kilometers, was sure to have shaved off even more time.

“I would say that as an overall experience, I really enjoyed it,” he said. “The novice race is a little different. You get to see a taste of what the more inexperienced runners look like, but you really get an understanding of where they're at.”

After the novice race’s start at approximately 5:15 p.m., the Twilight Invitational continued deep into the night, the final races not beginning until past 9 p.m.

The top finish of the night among local runners came in the sophomore girls 5-kilometer race, during which Nauset sophomore Savannah Senatori placed third overall of 73 athletes, with a time of 20:04.0, a personal best. Senatori’s Nauset teammate sophomore Cressa Lewis finished with a time of 23:39.8, also a personal best.

Other results included the freshman girls 2.1-mile race, in which Nauset freshman Anel Iliusinova ran a time of 14:04.2, finishing 18th of 117 runners. 

In the freshman boys 2.1-mile race, Nauset freshmen Brogen Kew and Oliver Camp ran times of 13:41.6 and 13:44.8, respectively.

In the sophomore boys 5-kilometer competition, Nauset sophomore Blaise Donoho finished at 18:25.1, a personal best and 18th of 151 runners. Cape Tech sophomore Shepherd Ward finished at 18:52.1, 27th overall and a personal best.

In the junior varsity girls 5-kilometer race, Nauset junior Hannah Pranga ran a time of 24:27.5, a season best, and junior Emanuelly Santos clocked in at 26:20.3, a personal best. Monomoy junior Stella Seufert ran a time of 24:53.6, a season best; eighth grader Alexis Hastbacka finished at 25:48.7, a personal best; and junior Lauren LaSelva finished at 27:01.7, a personal best.

In the junior varsity boys 5-kilometer race, Monomoy freshman Jonathan Michniewicz ran a time of 21:11.3, a personal best; senior Kamalei Hill finished in 21:50.2, a personal best; and sophomore Eli Clark finished in 24:41.5, a personal best. Cape Tech junior Jake Pilarella ran a time of 24:06.0, a personal best.

In the varsity small school girls 5-kilometer race, Monomoy junior Erin Guerard ran a time of 23:31.2, a personal best, and sophomore Molly Giorgio ran a time of 24:25.2, also a personal best.

In the varsity small school boys 5-kilometer race, Cape Tech junior Casey Fitzgerald ran a time of 17:11.9, a personal best, and sophomore Jayden Lecroix clocked in at 17:22.9, also a personal best. Monomoy junior Rydyr Finlay finished in 17:17.4, a personal best; senior Quinn Muldoon finished in 17:48.2, a personal best; and junior Tanner Grodzicki finished in 19:45.0, a season best.

In the varsity medium school girls 5-kilometer race, Nauset senior Aidana Iliusinova ran a time of 23:28.1, a personal best.

In the varsity medium school boys 5-kilometer race, Nauset junior Maxwell Kerry ran a time of 18:12.4, a personal best; junior Charlie Kautz ran a time of 18:41.8, a personal best; senior Sam Bowden ran a time of 18:52.6, a personal best; and senior Joshua Hagopian ran a time of 21:41.9, a season best.