Catching up with the leaders: What are these former Central Mass. high school running stars up to now?
Oh so many runners have a tough time catching up with T&G Super Team standouts on the tracks and trails of Central Massachusetts.
It's just so fortunate that many of them, after graduating and leaving this region, make it easy enough to keep with what they're doing, now that they've moved on to bigger and better things.
The summer has been good to several of these former CMass phenoms, and it's always fun to find out what's new with them.
What's new with Colin Bennie?
After finishing seventh (top American) and 19th in Boston Marathons in a six-month span, the former Wachusett Regional standout has headed west.
"We figured we'd give it a chance, see what it's like to switch things up," said Colin Bennie, who with girlfriend Abbie McNulty and miniature dachshund Louie moved from Charlottesville, Virginia, to San Francisco seven weeks ago.
"It's a very nice place to live, and a nice place to run," added Bennie, whose former T&G Super Team brother Jeremy Bennie made the bicoastal move from New York to Long Beach over the past couple of years.
MORE: Boston Marathon: Top US finisher in 2021, local hero Colin Bennie on track for more success
Bennie remains receiving his program remotely under Chris Fox, his coach at Syracuse and the Reebok Boston Track Club in Charlottesville, where Bennie was for nearly four years.
As he strides into form toward a possible fall marathon, Bennie has found himself jetting back east for races this summer. He took in the BAA 10K in Boston soon after the move, placed seventh (29:38) in Saturday's Beach to Beacon 10K in Maine and will be back for the Falmouth Road Race on Aug. 21.
Bennie enters Falmouth with three top-10 finishes in the 7-mile event, placing fifth last year in a personal-best 32 minutes, 25 seconds. McNulty also is entered at Falmouth.
In July, Bennie placed eighth in the 6-mile Wharf to Wharf race in Santa Cruz, California, while beginning to put his foothold in the Bay Area racing scene. "I'm beginning to think I'm ready for some good road races," he said.
Yes, Bennie has taken in a Giants game at 24 Willie Mays Plaza this summer, and he remains injury free entering his August races.
Bennie hasn't decided on a marathon for the fall, with Chicago or New York City strong possibilities. "We're still trying to figure out if it's a part of the plan," said Bennie, who would like to decide by early September.
What's new with Jon Green?
One of Bennie's rivals in high school and college also has been traveling plenty this summer.
"I'm finally back in Flagstaff after being on the road for the last 20 days," said Jon Green, the former St. John's High star, who coaches the Verde Track Club in Arizona.
Green, who coaches 2021 Olympic marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel, recently was at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, with Emily Infeld, who advanced to the final of the 5,000 meters.
MORE: Grafton's Chaz Davis, St. John's Jon Green each have team goals in mind for Boston Marathon
"This has been a big year for her, a big step forward," Green said of Infeld, who like him ran at Georgetown University. Infeld, 32, who has been running for Green for just under a year, has a personal-best 14:54.09 in the 5,000.
Along with about 40 amateur woman runners, Green is coaching a third professional, 27-year-old Grayson Murphy, a Salt Lake City native and steeplechase specialist who began running under Green in the spring.
Seidel, who has been bothered by the same hip injury that forced her to drop out of the Boston Marathon in the spring, bypassed the marathon at last month's World Championships and will not be running a marathon this fall.
"She's going to play it low key for a few races," Green said. "This has basically been her first time off in the past two years."
Green frequently runs into former Wachusett and Georgetown star Mike Smith, the director of cross-country and track at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. At the World Championships, Smith coached Guatemala's Luis Grijalva, who placed fourth in the 5,000.
Like Bennie, Green also will be in Falmouth but won't be toeing the starting line. He'll be there to support his girlfriend, Katie Izzo, who runs for Adidas and is based in San Diego.
"I did consider sneaking in an entry and seeing if I could wind up on the elite starting line and having the others wondering, 'What's he doing here?' " joked Green, who has set aside his running aspirations for now.
Green finished 16th in Falmouth in 2019, in 34:44, while representing Saucony Freedom Track Club.
What's new with John Murray?
While his father Mark Murray has been successful developing young Central Mass. talent as St. John's High cross-country coach, John Murray is doing the same at the next level, while entering his fifth season as assistant cross-country/track and field coach at Northeastern University.
Murray has played a key role in former Bromfield School standout Tessa McClain's rise while starring for the Huskies. Twice during last season, McClain lowered the school's mile record, which now stands at 4:43.87 indoors, 4:52.07 outdoors. She also holds NU's 1,000-meter indoor mark (2:47.54) and ran a leg on the distance medley relay foursome that has the school mark at 11:28.78.
"She has really excelled and bought into the program," Murray said of the rising junior. "She loves to challenge herself. We're really proud of Tessa — she's a driven athlete with big ambitions."
Murray also played a key recruiting role in bringing in this year's T&G Hometeam Athlete of the Year Shea Regan from Littleton High.
"She's another kid who's a real hard worker," Murray said. "She can help out our team a lot. but she's got her work cut out for her. She might be calm and quiet on the outside, but when she competes, she can turn it on. We're doing it with Mass. kids."
Murray knows well the transition from high school star to Division 1 college contributor takes time. "I understand the cycles of development, it's a long-term thing," he said. "Today's generation wants to go from A to F, but you have to go from A to B, B to C, and so on."
The fire of competition remains with Murray, who ran his first Boston Marathon in April (2:31) after COVID wiped out his plans for a debut in 2020.
"I felt I was in good shape then, I felt pretty confident," he said. "For the April race, I got the long runs up and managed my Achilles. I felt I had a great day."
Murray won't be running Falmouth this year — his NU runners will be reporting back to school the day before. "And I'm still recovering from the marathon," he said.
What's new with Tim Ritchie?
Hard to believe that Doherty High and Boston College grad Tim Ritchie is starting his fifth season as UMass men's cross-country coach.
"You blink, and all of a sudden, time has shifted," said Ritchie, who will welcome his runners back to Amherst the day after the Falmouth Road Race, which some of his Minutemen "may run it for fun."
"And I've become a dad," and a proud one at that. Ritchie and wife Kirstin welcomed daughter Teresa Grace on May 10 of last year.
MORE: Colin Bennie, Tim Ritchie, Dan Vassallo relish Olympic Marathon Trials experience
"She's got a lot of energy and is starting to explore, crawling about at lightning speed," he said.
The family is enjoying life in Northampton. "This is a place I can feel good about the work and family balance," he said. "It's an atmosphere that supports raising a young family."
For now, Ritchie, who broke the 4-minute mile and won the U.S. national marathon championship in 2017, has put his competitive running to the side, though he's known to peel off a comfortable 10-mile run through those scenic sites in the Pioneer Valley. His focus is developing his Minutemen harriers.
"This will be an interesting year for us," said Ritchie, whose first team in 2018 captured a New England title. "We're referred to as a young team, but many of those runners are now juniors."
Eight of his 18 runners are juniors, whose freshmen seasons were lost to COVID, with lingering effects affecting last fall. "We're excited, and there's a lot of potential, after building some momentum in the spring."
Providing part of that momentum was outgoing senior Joshua Rahn, the former St. John's High star who won the 10,000 meters at New Englands, in 30:27.84. UMass placed third as a team at the meet in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
"I'm really enjoying our time out here," Ritchie said. "It's a program that can be elite, and I want to see our runners get the most of their experience."
—Contact John Conceison at john.conceison@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @ConceisonJohn.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Catching up with the leaders: What are these former Central Mass. high school running stars up to now?
