By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – When it comes to cross country running in the Mum City, there’s no equal to Bristol Central harrier Frankie Porrini.
But Bristol Eastern standout Dominic Tartarelli and company did their best to keep up with Porrini and the outstanding program over at Bristol Central at the annual Bristol boys city series race from St. Paul Catholic High School on a cool Saturday morning.
And it came down to the wire between the two public schools while the Falcons, highlighted by the terrific duo of Matt Doherty and Colin Reilly, made big gains on the course to keep things close.
But in the end, Central came away with a tremendous 27-28 win over the Lancers to seize the title yet again.
In terms of regular season competition, Central has won every boys city series showdown beginning in 2004.
Central also spun St. Paul Catholic 22-35 as did Eastern (24-33).
Porrini started in first place and never relented as he left the pack in the distance.
“It feels pretty good,” said Porrini of winning the race for a second year in a row.
He ended the race with a winning time of 17:16 though Porrini admitted that the course was a little bit longer than most by a few hundred meters.
While rest of the leading pack mostly stayed together, Porrini simply outworked the field and had a significant lead over second place Dominic Tartarelli even as the Lancers’ harrier did a tremendous job keeping the top runner in the city within eyeshot.
“He’s just come such a long way,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk of Porrini. “We knew coming in he was talented, but he’s really stepped up his training. He’s hungry. He wants to run with the top guys in the state, but the city championship is always a great start to our championship season.”
Second place came down to Dominic Tartarelli and everyone else, but the team title was left in doubt between Central and Eastern until each scoring runner crossed the finish line
“The kids were focused from the get-go,” said Eastern coach Paul Ryskowski. “The goal was to win but if we look at where we were at the beginning of the season versus where we are now, it’s incredible the improvement that they’ve made. I’m so happy for them.”
And Dominic Tartarelli might have run his best race in an Eastern uniform.
He kept up with Porrini the best he could as Eastern’s top runner finished with an impressive 17:51 for second place.
“He came out of nowhere to come in second place,” said Ryskowski of Dominic Tartarelli. “The way he went out, the way he was able to hold on to it, that was a gutsy race and the best race I’ve ever seen him run. It was incredible.”
Central’s Chris Roy (third, 18:01) and St. Paul Catholic’s Matt Doherty (fourth, 18:03) had a big battle for third place.
And the warrior from Central won out by two seconds.
In fifth, Eastern’s Jack Mulcunry ran extremely well as he crossed the line in 18:11 which helped keep the ultimate team decision in doubt.
“Jack had a great race,” said Rykowski of Mulcunry. “We knew where we wanted him to be in the race and he went for it and almost came close to being able to get some of those top guys that have beat him in the past. [Mulcunry] was right there. That was really incredible for him to see, for a guy that’s typically a track guy, for him to be able to come on the cross country course and have the race that he did, it speaks to his commitment but also his range and true talent as a runner.”
Eastern’s Brendan Tartarelli (eighth, 19:16), Aidan Gezelman (ninth, 19:17) and Cole Beland (13th, 19:49) rounded out the top-five for the program that pushed until the end.
“I have to give a shoutout to the Bristol Eastern boys team,” said Stafford-Kirk. “They really stepped it up with Paul coaching over there. That’s one of my kids and he coached with me. I think he stole my training program or something I don’t know…I’m joking but they have really stepped it up.”
“I like a competitive meet. It’s stressful but I want our guys to have to work. It gives them greater experience for the bigger meets.”
But off the efforts of Central’s Patrick Wininger (sixth, 18:35), Lance Archibald (tenth, 19:25) and Brayden Dwyer (14th, 19:54), the Rams were able to squeeze out a one-point victory over the Kingstreeters.
“We needed everyone to step up today,” said Stafford-Kirk. “I’m proud of them. They really did step it up and Eastern took it out hard and our guys kind of just had to hang in there. That can mess with you mentally but they just hung in there and got their places, so it was good.”
Porrini was in great shape when he reached the relatively even ground of Stafford Avenue over his first and second trips out there – kicking on the surface to put even more distance between him, pesky Dominic Tartarelli and the rest of the field.
“That’s where I tried to pick it up a little bit,” said Porrini. “I knew I was finishing so I was like I have nothing left. I picked it up a little bit.”
In the later stages of the race, Roy was right behind Dominic Tartarelli in a bit of a cluster but once Porrini made it back down the St. Paul Catholic driveway the second time around, it was evident who was winning this event.
After Porrini and Dominic Tartarelli ended the race in first snd second place, respectively, the rest of the top runners finished with distance between them though Wininger and Reilly nearly made it across the line neck and neck.
Reilly looked to pass Wininger over the final 100 meters, but Wininger kept his composure and slim edge the entire length to finish just tenths of a second faster than Reilly.
And in the end, the Rams were champs of the city one more time by a single point.
“We take it seriously” said Stafford-Kirk of the city series championship. “We always want to win as a team but also have the individual champion. I’m really happy for [Porrini] to be able to repeat”
NOTES…Both the girls and boys squads had to warm up in near freezing conditions on Saturday morning as it was about 39 degrees as eight o’clock approached…St. Paul Catholic Athletic Director Dave Dennehy held a moment of silence for the slain Bristol Police officers – Alex Hamzy and Dustin DeMonte – before the start of the races that day.
Boys 2022 City Series Cross Country – Saturday, October 15
BRISTOL CENTRAL 27, BRISTOL EASTERN 28
BRISTOL CENTRAL 22, ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 35
BRISTOL EASTERN 24, ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 33
from St. Paul Catholic High School – 3.1+ Miles
Individual Results – Top 25
City Series Champion – Frankie Porrini (Bristol Central), 17:16
Runner-up – Dominic Tartarelli (Bristol Eastern), 17:51
3. Chris Roy (Bristol Central), 18:01
4. Matt Doherty (St. Paul Catholic), 18:03
5. Jack Mulcunry (Bristol Eastern), 18:11
6. Patrick Wininger (Bristol Central), 18:35
7. Colin Reilly (St. Paul Catholic), 18:35
8. Brendan Tartarelli (Bristol Eastern), 19:16
9. Aidan Gezelman (Bristol Eastern), 19:17
10. Lance Archibald (Bristol Central), 19:25
11. Brian Wilson (St. Paul Catholic), 19:33
12. Declan Toland (St. Paul Catholic), 19:45
13. Cole Beland (Bristol Eastern), 19:49
14. Brayden Dwyer (Bristol Central), 19:54
15. Dylan Prince (Bristol Eastern), 20:00
16. Aidan Tartarelli (Bristol Eastern), 20:02
17. Scott Petrosky (Bristol Central), 20:11
18. Nick DiMatteo (Bristol Central), 20:24
19. Aiden Georgakopoulos (Bristol Central), 20:42
20. Ben Kozikowski (Bristol Eastern), 20:49
21. Aidan Conklin (St. Paul Catholic), 21:00
22. James Rinaldi (St. Paul Catholic), 21:17
23. Jonathan Casarola (Bristol Eastern), 22:35
24. Christopher Serafin (Bristol Eastern), 23:35
25. Danny Wilson (St. Paul Catholic), 23:51
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