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Marcelo Mantecon keeps his winning streak alive with win in The Race of ChampionsPublished by
By Ricky Quintana Cary, NC - Belen Jesuit (Miami, FL) junior Marcelo Mantecon remained unbeaten Saturday morning winning The Great American XC Festival Boys’ Race of Champions for the second year in a row in 14:39.0. It was the eighth fastest time in course history and just ahead of his 14:40.2 he ran last year.
The win though was bittersweet. Mantecon was more focused on his team's outcome than his own. The Wolverines were looking for a heady performance against the DyeStat SE Region’s #2- #5 teams and DyeStat South Region’s #1 ranked teams to earn consideration for one of the NXN at large berths awarded this year.
PHOTO CREDIT: John Nepolitan
“He was holding back in the beginning to bring his teammates along,” said father, Alex. “He doesn’t care about times. He just wants his team to do well.”
Standing in the finish chute, Mantecon looked concerned as the masses came through. Fellow junior, Armando Cruz, came in fourth in 14:58.0, then sophomore Nicholas Veloso 41st 15:38.0, sophomore Jack Michalak 111th 16;10.8, and junior Davi Bodoh 124th 16:15.4 to score 200 points and finish fifth.
“This was the NXR course and we wanted to perform. Our team looked pretty tired at the end. We did our best and that’s all I can ask for,” he said afterwards.
His win was classic Mantecon. This season he has taken on the leadership role of the young team with no seniors and has backed off the gas pedal in the early stages of the race. Saturday, he and teammate Cruz, were together for 3.2k before he began to separate from the pack that also included Ryan Sykes (Horace Greeley, Chappaqua, NY) and Aaron Brodrick (Oconee County, Watkinsville, GA).
“I just pushed on the downhill after the two mile and then tried to finish the best I could,” he said. “This was like a six or seven out of ten. I was really happy with how I felt the whole race. I had an extra bullet in the chamber, just in case someone did come up and contend with me.”
Behind him, Sykes had the race of his life to finish second. The junior had been beaten in his previous races in a sprint, but on Saturday, the fast surface and racing conditions suited him well as he recorded a 14:44.2 to lower his personal best by 20.8 seconds and move to 18th fastest ever on the course.
“I thought there would be more guys up front in the pack.I was really happy with how it played out in the end,” he said. “ I did expect the pack to break away, but I wasn’t sure I would be in that pack. Last year, I did have a little issue with not being as fit or racing as many competitive races in the beginning of the season. This year, I’m really glad that I could come out here and run a really competitive race, race some great guys and throw down a fast time early in the season. I’m really happy how it turned out.”
Brodrick also showed he will be favored for a berth in the Nike Cross Nationals. On November 22, he’ll get that chance at NXR SE Regionals. Saturday, he was up to the task finishing third in 14:50.6, a 9.8 second personal best and second best among the SE Region athletes,
“I came into this race knowing it wasn’t going to be easy. This was definitely going to be the hardest race of the season,” he said. “ I was running with Marcelo through the mile. We came through the mile in 4:26. I was fine with that and feeling good. Coming up that hill for the first time, definitely hurt a little bit. I slid back into fourth coming down that hill and the second Belen guy passed me. With 1,200 to go I got past him and with 1k to go I knew it was going to hurt like crap so I had to do it now and work that hill.”
1. 14:49.0 Marcelo Mantecon US #3 Junior 4. 14:58.0 Armando Cruz Junior |
