Published in the December 1, 2016 edition
By BOB TUROSZ
NORTH READING – Assumption College is a highly-regarded private school in Worcester with highly regarded academic and athletic programs.
The college’s sports teams are called the Greyhounds.
And now we know why.
The male and female winners of the 2016 North Reading Turkey Trot held on Thanksgiving Day are both graduates of North Reading High School, but more to the point they are both Greyhounds – one a 2006 graduate of the college and the other a freshman.
Out of a field of 1,700 runners in this year’s Turkey Trot, what are the chances?
First place winner Brendan Carter, 18, is an Assumption freshman and a 2016 graduate of North Reading High School. He finished the 5K race in 16:51, 20 seconds ahead of the second place finisher Tom Helms.
Rachel Mitton, 32, was the first female to cross the finish line and the 12th overall in 18:51. Mitton graduated from Assumption in 2006 and is also a NRHS alum.
An estimated 1,700 runners ran the race – 1500 registered, which was the cap set in advance by organizers and an estimated 200 who showed up the day of the race. Most of those come from town and this year’s contingent of student runners was one of the largest, drawn by the competition between the three elementary schools to see which can win for having the highest percentage of runners. The Little School may face a steep challenge if it is to repeat as the winner again this year.
This is the eighth running of the North Reading Turkey Trot, which had a modest beginning in 2009 with 350 runners in a hand-timed race. Since then the race has grown exponentially every year: 437 in 2010, 418 in 2011; 848 in 2012; 1,255 in 2013; 1,357 in2014 and 1,364 last year.
The race begins and ends in Ipswich River Park and watching them all thunder down Central Street before taking the turn onto Chestnut Street is quite a sight.
There were 548 runners under 18 years of age; 194 were from the local elementary schools and 120 were from the Middle School. Everyone who ran burned plenty of calories and made room for an extra slice of pie at dinner.
The first 100 runners to cross the finish line were:
1. Brendan Carter, 16:51; 2. Tom Helms, 17:11; 3. Doug Martyn, 17:21; 4. Andrew Shedd, 17:26; 5. Nathaniel Olson, 17:30; 6. Marc Capobianco, 17:40; 7. Sam Capobianco, 17:44; 8. Kevin McBain, 17:55; 9. Matthew O’Brien, 17:58; 10. Chris Soucy, 18:15.
11. Samuel Cervantes, 18:21; 12. Rachel Mitton, 18:51; 13. Noah Spicer, 18:52; 14. Nicholas Roig, 18:53; 14. Denis Chebikin, 18:53; 16. Anthony Johnson,18:58; 17. Deidre Martyn, 19:00; 18 Christopher Borges, 10:06; 19. Ginger Howell, 19:13.
20. Jackie Solimine, 10:15; 21. Kate Mignosa, 19:20; 22. Eli Spicer, 19:28; 23. Justin Hong, 19:36; 24. Brooks Robinson, 19:37; 25. Peter Massicotte, 19:42; 26. Jared Rhoads, 19:45; 27. Jake Doucette, 19:49; 28. Julie Solimine, 19:50; 29. Harper Kenneth, 19:58.
30. Anthony Galasso, 19:59; 31. Daniel Coveney, 19:59; 32. Liam Connelly, 19:59; 33. Andrew DeBenedetto, 20:00; 34. Christopher Rosa, 20:00; 35. Anthony Tramontozzi, 20:00; 36. Matthew Liberacki, 20:04; 37. Rocco Tammaro, 20:05; 38. Jenna Solimine, 20:06; 39. Alistair Wilson, 20:07.
40. James Wilson, 20:16; 41. James Danis, 20:21; 42. Katrina Martyn, 20:26; 43. Grace Hadley, 20: 44. Juan Roig, 20:51; 45. Michael Connelly, 20:51; 46. Andrew Godzinski, 20:54; 47. Eric Conway, 20:55; 48. Harold Beard, 20:55; 49. Seth Wing, 20:56; 49. Spencer May, 20:56.
51. Scott Warren, 20:58; 52. Mark Donegan, 20:59; 53. Kevin Lynch, 21:09; 53. Michael Giuliana, 21:09; 55. Greg Sawyer, 21:10; 55. Kevin Smith, 21:10; 57. Matthew Romprey, 21:11; 58. Paul Selkirk, 21:12; 59. Joanna Griffin, 21:13.
60. Jessical Stryhalaleck, 21:14; 61. William Bolton, 21:14; 62. Thor Kirleis, 21:16; 63. Lindsay Maclellan, 21:16; 64. Leon Romprey, 21:21; 65. Luke Roy, 21:22; 66. Abigail McLaughlin, 21:27; 67. Jean Lynch, 21:31; 68. Dan Regan, 21:35; 69. Brenna Rowen, 21:36.
70. Stephen Coveney, 21:40; 71. Tyler Stansbury, 21:42; 71. Matthew DeBenedetto, 21:42; 73. Alec Perrotti, 21:43; 73. Kaitlyn Tarr, 32:43; 75. Anthony Petrosino, 21:49; 76. Christopher Schubert, 21:52; 77. Tom Mignosa, 21:54; 78. Edward Wilson, 21:55; 78. Nicholas Copelas, 21:55; 80. Erich Bockley, 21:59; 81. Richard Perrotti Jr., 22:00; 81. AJ Romano, 22:00; 84. Vinny Papageorgiou, 22:04; 85. Justin Colella, 22:05; 86. Josh Rocco, 22:11; 87. Derek Reilly, 22:12; 88. Stephen Mack, 22:15; 89. Nicholas Carpenter, 22:16.
90. Sean Haynes, 22:19; 91. Jeffrey Doucette, 22:20; 92. George O’Connor, 22:21; 92. Ben Vanasse, 22:21; 94. Drew Mignosa, 22:25; 95. Brayden Scribner, 22:27; 95. Henry Adams, 22:27; 97. Lianne Valdivia, 22:28; 98. Fred DelGrosso, 22:29; 99. Sam Morgan, 22:30; 100. Robert Smith, 22:36.
Complete race results can be viewed at www.racewire.com.
A lot of local businesses stepped up as sponsors of this year’s race: ERA Russell Realty Group, the premier sponsor for the second year; Aesthethic Dentistry, Burbank Ice Arena, Classified Realty Group – Quinlan Realty Group, Farrelly Realty Group, Fit Revolution, Harmeling Physical Therapy, Horseshoe Grille, Keyes Law Office, New Balance, Salon 77, the Keyes Family and YMCA Metro North.