For the first time in more than 30 years, the Natick Boys’ Cross Country team qualified for the All State meet.

 Head Coach Matthew Miller was proud of the team’s performance.       

“We have had a terrific 6-3 season and topped it off with the third best showing from all Bay State Conference schools, only behind Brookline and Newton North. This is the first time in over thirty years that Natick Boys have qualified for the All State meet in cross country,” he said. 

Miller, who is also a history teacher at Natick High School, has coached the team for more than 10 years.

The post-season team that advanced to the All State Meet consists of one senior, four juniors, and five sophomores:

Senior - Carson Moellering  Juniors - Ben Feldman (#1 runner and 7th at the Division 1 meet), Ben Scharr-Weiner, Nate Lord, Jack Kidd

Sophomores - Steven D’Alessandro (#2 runner and 33rd at D1 meet), Jacob Tobin, Sean Fleming, Nick Bianchi, Brian Arthur.

Miller said, “Ben Feldman has been one of the best runners in the state all year, and the other runners have progressed rapidly to supplement his ability, culminating in an 8th place finish at the Division 1 meet, … where the team qualified through to the All State Meet.”

The boys qualified by placing 8th in the Divison IA Eastern Massachusetts Championships last month, at the Wrentham Developmental Center’s 5k cross country course. 

Kathy Fleming, the Natick High School Girls Assistant Distance coach, said that race was definitely challenging.

“The Division I race was by far the most densely populated ( Division 1B and Division 1C also competed at Wrentham later in the day) with the best cross country runners in the state. 

“The Natick boys knew it would be challenging to advance to the All State meet having to face the toughest competition race in the Division 1A race. However, after the regular season ended they bonded as a team for the postseason championships and were really able to zone in on the task at hand. 

“Coach Miller taught them visualizing techniques and even took a trip to Wrentham a few days before the race to really get a feel for the course before the big day. The experience of racing the best in the Division IA meet has set them up emotionally and physically for the challenge that they will face at All States,” she said.

Miller said it was an exciting race they brought out the best in his runners.

 “We finished the season with a 6-3 record in the very challenging Bay State Conference. Our last meet was a 28-28 tie where we won the tiebreaker because our sixth runner finished ahead of Framingham’s sixth runner. The meet was especially exciting because our sixth runner (Moellering) actually sprinted past their 5th & 6th runners in the last 20 meters and that won the meet for Natick. 

“Prior to this meet, I knew that we had a chance to beat the favored Framingham team and the Natick runners performed our plan flawlessly and courageously to squeak out the win. After that victory, the boys gained a lot of confidence that I think has carried over to the postseason success,” coach said.

“Carson Moellering also ran a great race at the divisional on Saturday, passing 21 runners in the last 2 kilometers to finish in 84th place (out of 188) with a 40 second 5K personal record.  That finish directly led to our chance to advance to the All State meet. All of the other top five scoring runners ran 5K personal bests, including Ben Feldman placing 7th,” he continued.

This is a group that really loves running and enjoy being together as a team. They are a friendly bunch who are inclusive with all of the members of the team regardless of ability. I have seen them put great effort into all of their training that is paying off now with postseason success.  

“This sophomore class has a bright future as they have greatly contributed to the team success even without two excellent runners who have been injured all season, Liam O’Neill and Owen Pendas.  

“I have been impressed with team workouts all Fall as they have met the challenging training schedule with confidence and great effort. The better runners are encouraging to everyone in the workouts, and proud of their accomplishments after they finish the workouts. They have set their sights on some ambitious goals and have trusted me to help them accomplish the goals,” said Mille