AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

BY MAC C ERULLO mcerullo@newburyportnews.com

BYFIELD — Joe Colbert wasn’t expecting the breakthrough to come so soon. The Triton boys cross country team had been competing with the league’s best for several years, but outside of CAL championship contender Graham Stedfast this year’s team was still quite young. The longtime Vikings coach knew the boys had a bright future, but at first it seemed like the group might need another year of development to reach their potential.

As it turned out, Triton’s future is now.

Triton boys cross country clinched its first Cape Ann League title in program history on Wednesday, beating Pentucket 17-46 to improve to 5-0 on the season. The Vikings had five of the top six finishers, with Stedfast (17:40) winning by more than a minute while Griffin White (18:48) and Jack O’Shea (18:43) took second and third to effectively clinch the league championship.

“I think we’re a year early, I thought we’d be good the next couple of years and I think that was a big breakthrough for us,” Colbert said. “All summer they were running not even knowing if there is going to be a season. They’ve had some challenges to overcome, so I’m proud of what they did.”

The best teams in the CAL have always blended a mix of elite talent and outstanding depth, and while Triton has featured plenty of both in past years, the Vikings haven’t been able to overcome best runners in the past — usually Newburyport guys like Nick or Jack Carleo, Sam Acquaviva and John Lucey, all of whom were All-State champions or close to it.

But this year the shoe was finally on the other foot. Stedfast, who owns the school record at Triton’s Old Town Hill and who recently committed to run Division 1 track and field at UMass Lowell, is one of the state’s top runners and would’ve been among the favorites to win a state title if not for the pandemic. When it was time to face Newburyport again this fall, Stedfast gave Triton a crucial leg up, one that the rest of the Vikings were able to take advantage of.

“He’s truthfully the best boy we’ve had come through Triton,” said Colbert, noting his contributions dating all the way back to his days in the Triton middle school program. “Just to see his journey over the past six years has been really gratifying. He’s really earned everything he’s gotten.”

With Stedfast leading the way and with a strong top group that includes White and O’Shea as well as Cole Jacobsen and Sam O’Shea, Triton was able to beat out Newburyport by one point back on Oct. 8, giving the Vikings the inside track to claim the title. After easy wins over North Reading and Lynnfield, Triton knew it was in good shape heading into Wednesday’s showdown with Pentucket.

After Stedfast, White and O’Shea swept the top three, Jacobsen and Sam O’Shea officially wrapped up the title by placing fifth and sixth respectively. Triton now has one more race next Thursday against Amesbury, and after that the team will await word on whether or not a CAL championship meet will be held.

Colin Costa was the top runner for Pentucket (0-3) in fourth overall. Pentucket will face North Reading on Monday and then Hamilton-Wenham next Thursday.

Freshman Dalgar leads Pentucket

Pentucket freshman Kaylie Dalgar was an accomplished runner in middle school, and when she made an immediate impact as one of Pentucket’s top seven runners it wasn’t a huge surprise.

But hanging with the best is one thing. To actually become arguably the best runner in the league is another thing entirely.

Dalgar made a major statement in Wednesday’s 19-40 win over

See TRITON, Page 10

The Triton boys cross country team beat Pentucket on Wednesday to clinch the program’s first-ever Cape Ann League championship.

COURTESY PHOTO

Triton’s Graham Stedfast leads the pack during Wednesday’s cross country race against Pentucket. Stedfast finished first overall as the Vikings clinched their first Cape Ann League championship in school history.

COURTESY PHOTO

. Continued from Page 9 Triton, finishing first overall for her first career win by beating out two of the CAL’s best and most established runners — Pentucket teammate Phoebe Rubio and Triton’s Sarah Harrington — in a head to head race. Dalgar beat out both of the top runners down the stretch to finish in 21:18, one second ahead of Harrington (21:19) and six seconds ahead of reigning Daily News MVP Rubio (21:24).

“She’s just been coming on,” said Pentucket coach Todd Ruland. “She’s a freshman and we have some solid runners up front. She was running with Audrey [Conover] and Ella [Edic], the three of them were running together, and last race Kaylie was like 20 seconds in front of them and 20 seconds behind Phoebe.

“It’s tough for younger kids to beat older established kids,” Ruland continued. “But she did it on her own which shows a lot of determination and confidence on her part.”

Edic, Conover and Emily Rubio came in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively to lock down the win, with Brianna Whyman (eighth) and Kate Kelly (11th) finishing near the front as well. Triton’s top runners after Harrington were Ava Burl (seventh), Robin Sanger (ninth) and Ella Visconti (10th).

With the win Pentucket is now 3-0 with wins over each of the CAL’s other top three teams. Pentucket will next face North Reading on Monday, while Triton (3-2) faces Amesbury next Thursday.