Under the cover of night, dashing through dimly-lit barns and fields, junior Alexa Schroeder set a new Vineyard school record at the Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational finishing the 5K course in 18:46 last Saturday at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds.
Schroeder wasn’t the only Vineyard success story on the three-loop course that saw more than 50 teams compete throughout the night. Sophomore Broden Vincent set a new personal best, finishing in 18:49, and seniors Daniel Serpa and Daniel da Silva also bested their previous records finishing in 16:23 and 16:11.
Vineyard cross country head coach Joe Schroeder said the annual twilight meet is something the team looks forward to every year and usually lends for some of their best times of the season.
“That atmosphere and the course lends itself to good times. It gives the kids a lot of confidence,” coach Schroeder said.
With six different races for both girls and boys teams, everybody gets a chance to run the course.
“It’s a really good meet not only to test the upper-level kids, but the novice kids that are developing still get a chance to run on that course. It’s a lot of fun,” Coach Schroeder said.
Vincent said running through the empty livestock barns is the best part of the race, adding that the motivation from the sheer number of screaming onlookers provides extra adrenaline.
“It’s pitch black besides all these Christmas lights,” the sophomore harrier said. “There are so many people throughout the course, it’s really awesome. They’re all yelling and it’s impossible to slow down.”
Up next, the Island runners are off to Westfield on Saturday for a meet that doubles as a preview of the postseason sectional course. Earlier in the season, the team ran at Fort Devens, where the state championships are held.
“There’s a method to our madness,” Coach Schroeder said with a laugh. “Traveling is a big part of school sports here on the Island and it just brings the teams closer together.”
Also this week, after rattling off nine-straight wins, the boys soccer team took to the Cape to put their winning streak on the line against perennial powerhouse Nauset. The Warriors, one of only two teams to beat the Vineyard this season, set up in a very narrow defensive block so the Vineyard’s game plan was to push the ball out wide to create scoring chances. However, the Vineyarders were under constant pressure from a more physically imposing Nauset squad and ended up falling 2-1 on a second-half penalty kick.
“The ball ended up bouncing around a lot to basically nobody,” said the boys head coach John Walsh. “(Nauset) is fit and they’re strong, they’re much bigger than we are. We got muscled off a lot of balls.”
Kaio DaSilva netted purple’s lone goal of the day on a penalty kick. The outcome of the team’s first meeting with Nauset was also a 2-1 defeat.
“Super similar games actually,” Coach Walsh said. “I didn’t feel like we had a lot of possession in the first game with them either. Our touch just wasn’t quite what it needs to be.”
The boys finish the regular season with Falmouth Thursday at home followed by a trip to North Reading Saturday and then Cardinal Spellman the following Friday at home. They will need to run the table for a chance at hosting two playoff games. The high school’s natural grass field and the elements that come with playing on their home pitch has been a major advantage this season for the Vineyard.
“The storm is our friend,” Coach Walsh said.
For the girls soccer team, their winning ways continued Wednesday as they blanked Boston Latin 6-0 for their 11th win of the season. It was the second straight shutout for the Vineyard after beating Barnstable 2-0 last Thursday.
Against Boston Latin, Elena Giordano scored a hat trick while Ella Keene, Emily Coogan and Reese Malowski also all netted goals for the Vineyard. In net, Georgia Magden and Penelope Haddad were credited for the shutouts.
The girls take on Falmouth Thursday and then O’Bryant Saturday at home before finishing the regular season against Nantucket at home the following Saturday.
The golf team heads to the division three state tournament Tuesday after winning the south secional tournament this week, and finishing the regular season with a record of 12-2. The state tournament will be held at the Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley.
On Monday, the field hockey team was defeated 3-1 by Falmouth across the Sound. The girls have a bit of travel ahead of them as the season comes to a close. On Sunday, they play Tohanto on the road then head right back off-Island to take on Norwell Monday. They finish the road trip against Sturgis East Thursday.
The football team also faced Falmouth on the road last week and was defeated by a score of 27-6. It’s been a tough stretch for Coach Tony Mortolla’s young team, matching up against much bigger schools from the Cape. With the loss to Falmouth, they fell to 1-5 on the season.
Dennis-Yarmouth comes to the Island this week for Friday night lights, and the Island Cup game against Nantucket is scheduled for the following Saturday.
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