Only about six mile separate the towns of Northbridge and Uxbridge. It’s such a small part of Worcester County as a whole, but within that small distance are two of the most talented high school cross country runners participating in the sport today.
Aiden Ross of Uxbridge and Marcus Reilly of Northbridge could likely run the distance between their towns in about thirty minutes. Instead, throughout this
Aiden Ross running at sectionals. Submitted photo
month, both athletes have shown off their ability to outrun their competition.
Last Saturday, during the Division 3 Class Championships at Stanley Park in Westfield, both Reilly and Ross smoked their opponents to win their respective races. Reilly competed in the Class A race and cruised to a win with a time of 16:05.47, while Ross tore up the race course with a blistering 15:10.4 time, despite taking a “conservative” approach to racing in the event. Both runners are expected to compete against each other during the state meet Saturday.
Fighting Through Injury
According to Northbridge coach Steph Reilly, Marcus is trying to overcome early season injuries to finish out states with a victory. “It has been a tough season for Marcus, for sure,” said Steph Reilly, who is also Marcus’ mother. “He missed so much time with that early season injury, and training chunks have been up and down as he tries to get back to fitness.”
Steph and Marcus Reilly. Submitted photo
Marcus set the goal last Saturday to secure the win and qualify for the state meet tomorrow. “My goal for the race was to get out hard in front so I could navigate my way through the woods and see where I was going,” he said. “We went into the woods after about a half mile and once I had the lead I just tried to settle into a good strong pace and ran in front the entire way.”
The week prior to sectionals, he ran an invitational meet in Wrentham, his first of the season. He finished with a time of 15:24. “I think both of us were surprised by this and didn’t think he was at that fitness level based on the training,” Steph said. “Not having those early season hard races to build strength in the training plan left him very tired after that race, and this is why we wanted to take the conservative approach at the divisional meet, run hard but controlled.”
“Sturbridge was actually my first race back from that injury,” Marcus said. “That was a hard effort for me with it being a challenging course, and then going the wrong way and off course only added to that challenge.”
Since then, Marcus has been building his fitness levels each week.
“I didn’t really know much about the [sectionals] competition,” he said. “But I felt confident I could control the race myself. I was
Dylan and Marcus Reilly are in sync during warmup drills. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba
happy to come out of it with the win.”
Marcus’ brother, Dylan Reilly, also finished well to qualify for states. Dylan placed twenty-second with a time of 18:17. “Next up for me and my brother will be the state meet,” Marcus said.
As he looks ahead to states tomorrow back in Wrentham, he is optimistic he will have a good race. “I enjoyed that course a couple of weeks ago so hopefully I can have another good race over it.”
A Good Feeling After Sectionals
Ross had a similar conservative approach to sectionals, but he could not help but run fast because he said he “felt great!”
“I just tried to keep it really controlled and conserved for states,” Ross said. “The course was a little wet but the trails were in good shape and it ran well for everyone.” During the race, “I felt phenomenal the whole time. I really didn’t know how quick I was going until I hit the two-mile mark and a coach told me I was at 9:50 so I just cruised it in.”
Ross crossing the finish at sectionals. Submitted photo
Uxbridge junior Carl Gallawan at a recent practice. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba (2)
Ross and his Uxbridge teammates also did well, placing second in the team rankings. “I think we ran well as a team, obviously we were aiming to win but we plan on refocusing for states. I wouldn’t necessarily say we were happy but we weren’t upset with the team result. We’re looking to go into states and make some moves.” Uxbridge junior Carl Gallawan placed sixth at sectionals with a time of 16:59 and sophomore Lincoln Schiller finished tenth with a time of 17:11.
Ross said the expectation for him and his teammates are to compete to the best of their abilities at states. “We have all raced that course at least once and myself and Carl have raced it several times so we are pretty familiar,” he said. “It would be ideal to get out there and run the course with the team [before the race]. I’ve been feeling great in my training and I am confident in my teammates. I think we have a chance to turn some heads at states.”
The top finishers at sectionals from the Uxbridge Cross Country Team Carl Gallawan, Aiden Ross, and Lincoln Schiller at the Uxbridge High School track. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba
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