GLOCESTER -- He was trampled and stepped on, but in the end he was the victor.

Despite being forced to make up considerable ground after getting caught in a pile-up near the start of the race, Andrew Palumbo was crowned the individual Boys Class A champion at the R.I. Interscholastic League's Cross Country Class Championships yesterday at Ponaganset.

The Hendricken senior clocked a winning time of 16:24.03 on the chilly, windswept course, also helping the Hawks successfully defend their team title.

"I was nervous because we didn't have Steve Wood," who injured his ankle at the Manhattan Invitational earlier this month and is resting it for the state meet, said Hendricken coach Jim Doyle. "But Andrew stepped it up big time. He showed unbelievable leadership, and he dragged the whole team with him. Nobody works harder than he does."

Palumbo said his initial plan was get out in front quickly, but about 100 meters into the race, "it kind of backfired."

"A couple of guys fell in front of me and I came down with them," said Palumbo, his racing singlet ripped and his left side scraped after being cleated. "So I started the race about 50th. But I got up and kept thinking, 'This is a long race. You've got to hang in there.' }'

Palumbo caught up with the leaders just after the 1-mile mark and had established a comfortable lead on the others by the time he emerged from the woods for the last time with about 3/10ths of a mile remaining.

"A.J. Johnson [of Coventry] really took the pace. You have to give him credit," Palumbo said. "And Dave Hurley [of Chariho] helped the whole second mile."

In an exciting battle for second place, Nick Barao of East Providence came from behind and overtook Hurley down the stretch, holding on to the second spot with a time of 16:31.03.

"I was in fourth, but I knew I had a lot left," the Townies senior said. "I knew I could get him, so I just gave it everything I had. Honestly, I have never run that fast at the end of a race. It feels great. I'm so happy right now. Coming in, I was hoping to finish top seven. Second place. This is incredible."

Hurley took third in 16:32.16, followed by Devon Holgate of Cumberland in 16:33.67.

Hendricken placed 5 runners in the top 9 en route to the Class A crown. Contributing to the Hawks' team total of 30 points, which was 56 points better than runner-up La Salle, were Alex Varone (5th), Bronson Venable (7th), Tomas McLaughlin (8th) and Andrew Danesi (9th).

In other races yesterday, Barrington sophomore Sid Griffin pulled into the lead for good at 2 miles and went on to guide the Eagles to the Class B crown with his winning time of 16:50.96.

Mike Pezzullo, Mark Feigen and Akash Chougle placed 1-2-3, in that order, with Pezzullo crossing the finish line with a winning time of 17:10.9, in leading East Greenwich to the Class C title.

Hendricken's Nick Casbarro took first place (17:58.98) in the Jayvee race.

CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIPS Team scores

1, Hendricken 30; 2, La Salle 86; 3, Chariho 120; 4, Cumberland 121; 5, S. Kingstown 161; 6, Coventry 164; 7, N. Kingstown 166; 8, Pilgrim 182; 9, E. Providence 219; 10, Woonsocket 225; 11, Tolman 262; 12, Cr. East 359.

Individual results

1, Andrew Palumbo, BH 16:24.0; 2, Nick Barao, EP 16:31; 3, Dave Hurley, Char. 16:32; 4, Devon Holgate, Cumb. 16:33; 5, Alex Varone, BH 16:43; 6, Andrew Johnson, Cov. 16:53; 7, Bronson Venable, BH 16:59; 8, Tom McLaughlin, BH 17:11; 9, Andrew Danesi, BH 17:35; 10, Connor Mercurio, LS 17:40; 11, Corey Brunelle, Woon. 17:47; 12, Ian Williams, Pil.. 17:48; 13, Ryan Sullivan, EP 17:52; 14, Nate Wigton, NK 17:54; 15, Jayson McVeigh, LS 17:55; 16, Steve Borges, LS 17:55; 17, Mike McGovern, Char. 17:56.4; 18, Craig Johnson, NK 17:56.8; 19, Matt LaPlume, Char. 17:57.2; 20, Chris Pereira, Cumb. 17:57.7; 21, Kyle Moriarty, NK 17:58.

CLASS B CHAMPIONSHIPS Team scores

1, Barrington 67; 2, Ponaganset 81; 3, Westerly 96; 4, Lincoln 100; 5, Portsmouth 103; 6, Mt. Hope 117; 7, Toll Gate 183; 8, N. Providence 189; 9, W. Warwick 240; 10, Hope 300; 11, Burrillville 321; 12, Shea 369; 13, Central Falls 402; 14, Warwick 432.

Individual results

1, Sid Griffin, Barr. 16:50.9; 2, Jim Sylvestre, Linc. 16:56; 3, Ben Freeman, Pon. 17:05; 4, Tom O'Loughlin, West. 17:06; 5, Mike Lynch, Port. 17:10; 6, Andrew Dionne, West. 17:24; 7, Ed Romanus, MH 17:36; 8, Cesar Smith, MH 17:37; 9, Jeremy Hogler, Pon. 17:42; 10, Mike Ericson, Linc. 17:43; 11, Andrew Maguire, Barr. 17:51; 12, Sam Carlson, Linc. 17:53; 13, Matt Macedo, Pon. 17:54; 14, Sam Lee, West. 17:55; 15, Austin Pena, TG 17:56; 16, Kevin Ryan, Port. 17:59; 17, Chris Halladay, Barr. 18:02; 18, Sam Richards, Barr. 18:03; 19, Corey Coogan, NP 18:07; 20, Jack Heine, Barr. 18:11; 21, Dave Shears, MH 18:14.

CLASS C CHAMPIONSHIPS Team scores

1, E. Greenwich 29; 2, Smithfield 78; 3, Prout 79; 4, Classical 109; 5, Mount St. Charles 113; 6, Scituate 152; 7, N. Smithfield 222; 8, Ex./W. Greenwich 238; 9, Middletown 264; 10, Narragansett 271; 11, Davies 278; 12, Johnston 299; 13, St. Raphael 404.

Individual results

1, Mike Pezzullo, EG 17:10.9; 2, Mark Feigen, EG 17:12.4; 3, Akash Chougle, EG 17:12.8; 4, Joe Siravo, Prout 17:29; 5, Dave Galoski, Smith. 17:56; 6, Dan Jiminez, Class. 17:59; 7, Mike Gingras, MSC 18:04; 8, Matt Colavita, EG 18:09; 9, Steve Lynch, Prout 18:19; 10, Matt Morvan, Smith. 18:27; 11, Pat O'Rourke, Class. 18:30; 12, Eric Skinkle, Prout 18:31; 13, Mike Martin, NS 18:37.3; 14, Richard Marcello, Scit. 18:37.6; 15, Andrew Glod, EG 18:42; 16, Sam Podbelski, EG 18:46; 17, Keith Raymond, Class. 18:47; 18, Everett LaMountain, Smith. 18:50; 19, Ian Smith, MSC 18:52; 20, Kyle Melfi, Scit. 18:55; 21, Tom Bertram, Scit. 18:57.

Distance -- 3.1 miles.

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