Cross Country Finishes Second at FAA Championships

For the second year in a row, Brunswick finished second at the FAA Championships. The Bruins finished three points behind Hopkins, 38-41, as six Brunswick runners earned all-league accolades at the race on Monday, held at Sherwood Island.

 

Following the Hilltoppers and Brunswick, Greens Farms finished in third place (103), as St. Luke’s (106) was fourth and Rye CDS and Masters tied for fifth place with 111 points.

 

With team points decided by the finishing position of the top five runners for each school, Brunswick and Hopkins each had five runners finish in the top 17.

 

The Bruins’ Lucas Pombo finished second behind the race-winner from Hopkins. The Hopkins runner, senior Nicholas Burtson, finished unbeaten in FAA races.

 

Pombo's teammate Charlie Garland, holding onto fourth place with a quarter mile to go, closed a five-meter gap on the third-place runner. Garland motored past to take third place by a whopping 50 meters.

 

The Hilltoppers next three runners crossed the line in fourth, sixth and 12th place, while Brunswick’s Matty Goodman and Jonny Citron finished in ninth and 10th place, respectively.

 

One point separated the two rivals with one racer apiece remaining to determine the FAA Championship. The Hilltoppers tallied 23 points and Bruins had 24 team points.

 

After two other FAA runners crossed the line, Hopkins’ fifth runner gave the Hilltoppers the title with a 15th-place result. Brunswick’s fifth runner, Chris Ramos, finished the course two spots back in 17th.

 

Over the last eight years, the two schools account for all of the team titles. Hopkins won the two most-recent championships, while the Bruins won the six previous championships.

 

Pombo, Garland, Goodman and Citron earned All-FAA nods for top-10 finishes, as Ramos and Ryan Heinzerling (18th) were honorable-mention picks for top-20 results. This was Ramos’ third-straight honorable mention selection.

 

2.  Lucas Pombo       17:05.7 (All-FAA)

3. Charlie Garland      17:22.6 (All-FAA)

9. Matty Goodman     18:19.2 (All-FAA)

10. Jonny Citron         18:25.8 (FAA-Honorable Mention)

17. Chris Ramos         19:02.5 (FAA-Honorable Mention)

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18. Ryan Heinzerling   19:08.6  (FAA-Honorable Mention)

24. Ali Hindy                19:41.2

Full race results: http://bit.ly/FAAChamp2019