BHS Sports: Junior runner leads cross country team

Brandon Piedade is first overall at Martha’s Vineyard Invitational

By Josh Bickford
Posted 9/22/22

The Barrington High School boys cross country team jumped out to a strong start this season.

The Eagles opened with a win at the Martha’s Vineyard Cross-Country Invitational, and followed …

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BHS Sports: Junior runner leads cross country team

Brandon Piedade is first overall at Martha’s Vineyard Invitational

Posted

The Barrington High School boys cross country team jumped out to a strong start this season.

The Eagles opened with a win at the Martha’s Vineyard Cross-Country Invitational, and followed that up with victories in the first dual meet of the season.

At the Vineyard Invitational, Barrington scored 51 points and finished well ahead of St. Raphael’s and City Wide Cross Country, which were tied for second with 106 points each. Norwell, Mass. was fourth with 116 points, and Whitinsville Christian was fifth with 140 points.

Junior Brandon Piedade led the Eagles’ contingent and the rest of the field. Piedade won the race with a time of 16:17.4. Other Barrington runners to finish in the top-20 were Connor Curran (17:47.8), Elliot Lefort (17:53.2), Myles Napolitano (17:54.1), Christopher Clyne (17:54.9), Finn Myatt (18:03.7), and Henry Schultz (18:06.3). 

Barrington Coach Mike Katz said he was very happy with his team’s performance. He said Piedade is likely the second-fastest runner in the state this year. 

“Of course he’s an inspiration,” Katz said of Piedade. “He’s such a great team leader. The younger kids love him — he’s very involved in the sport. He can be very intense. He wants to do well.”

Katz said that while Piedade is poised to challenge for the top spot overall this year, his entire team is very strong. 

“When you go from the two to number seven runner on my team, they’re almost interchangeable. They run as a pack,” he said. 

That point was illustrated in the Vineyard race when Barrington’s two through seven runners finished within 20 seconds of each other. 

The Eagles defeated St. Raphael, East Providence and Tiverton in the first dual meet of the season. Piedade was second overall, trailing the number one runner in the state Devan Kipyego, of St. Raphael. 

The Saints had four runners in the top 10 spots, but the Eagles trumped them by landing six runners in the top 10: Piedade was second, Lefort was fourth, Napolitano was sixth, Curran was seventh, Clyne was eighth, and Myatt was ninth. In fact, Barrington had 10 runners in the top-18 spots.

“It’s a team that’s very enthusiastic. I had a very good freshmen team. And now they’re sophomores and they’re really into running,” Katz said. “We’re looking pretty strong this year.

“I just want them to be the best individuals they can be. I want them to be a strong team, to support each other. If they do that, they’ll be successful.”

The team captains this year are Piedade and Clyne. 

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.