Boys' XC takes 2nd at Canterbury Invitational

Wilbraham & Monson Academy Boys' Cross Country Coach Tom Iannacone received a surprise from his team Saturday, and it was a good surprise.

Racing in a field of 17 teams, the Titans placed second at the Canterbury Cross Country Invitational in New Milford, Conn., in the Division II meet.

"I expected us to pack run and do OK but I didn't expect us to come in second," said Coach Iannacone, who is in his first year of being in charge of the Boys' Cross Country program. "We had all the guys in low numbers. You go into award ceremonies expecting nothing, and once I heard Kingswood Oxford was third, I thought, 'Wait a minute. We did a little better than them.' Then they called WMA.

"We ran strong and the guys kept together. Yifan "Kevin" Qiu '18 finished right where we needed him, and then Adam Kugelmass '19, Andrew Nagle '18, Basem Hernandez '19 and Cole Hansen '17 all stuck together."

Coach Iannacone wasn't sure what to expect because, in the team's previous invitational at Deerfield Academy, the team was split into a varsity race for juniors and seniors and a junior varsity meet with freshmen and sophomores.

"The Canterbury course was harder than Deerfield and we saw a lot of improvement with our times," Coach Iannacone said.

Kevin placed 13^th in 18 minutes, 34 seconds, followed by Adam (20^th, 19:12), Andrew Nagle (26^th, 19:40), Basem (31^st, 19:52) and Cole (47^th, 20:22).