Leading the pack: Our 2023 Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, Super Team & All-Stars
The 2023 fall cross country season was full of personal-bests for SouthCoast boys runners who worked hard to drop their times.
A pair of local runners — Bishop Stang's Lowell Copps and Old Rochester's Tyler Young — won their respective conference championships and were named MVP of their conferences.
Here's a look at The Standard-Times' top boys cross country runners for the 2023 season.
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Lowell Copps, Bishop Stang, Junior
The first time Lowell Copps ran a 5K, it took him nearly 35 minutes to cross the finish line.
Fast forward to last fall when Copps was the fastest SouthCoast boys runner at the MIAA Div. 2 All-State meet, finishing under 17 minutes.
“It’s incredible his transition,” said Bishop Stang coach Julie Isaksen. “He’s worked for it. He’s so dedicated.
“Lowell decided to run cross country on a whim. Freshman year he didn’t even like running then. Now I have to stop him from running. He’s come so far and it’s amazing and inspiring to watch.”
Copps said that seeing the effects of his hard work has pushed him to work even harder.
“It’s something that if you work really hard you can see really good results,” said Copps, the 2023 Standard-Times Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. “I like how if you work hard you can see success. It’s easy to see. Other sports, even if you’re really good, you might not see that success.”
WHY HE WAS SELECTED
Copps had his best performances on the biggest stages. The Bishop Stang junior was the top finisher among SouthCoast runners at the Div. 2 All-State meet and won the Catholic Central League championship race as well.
“This was his year in cross country,” Isaksen said. “He had a stellar season.”
Isaksen said the reason why Copps made such a big jump from sophomore to junior year is because he studied the sport.
“He will apply everything he learns. He’s special that way,” she said. “He wants to be coached well. He’s patient. He knows it doesn’t happen all at once.”
Copps said he began training for the fall during the summer.
“I usually run about 50 miles per week,” he said.
KEY STATS
At the Div. 2 All-State meet, Copps ran a 16:50 at Wrentham to place 21st overall. The previous week he came in seventh out of 165 runners at the Div. 2C meet with a season-best time of 16:18.
Copps also clocked a 16:31 at the Twilight Invitational and a 16:47 at the Frank Kelley Invitational.
MVP MOMENT
The Catholic Central League MVP won the conference championship with a 17:07 on a challenging course at Franklin Park.
“In cross country I had hoped to break 16:30 and win the conference meet and I was able to accomplish both of those goals,” Copps said.
WHAT’S NEXT
The 17-year-old from Mattapoisett currently has his sights set on breaking 4:30 for the mile in spring track. He’ll also run the 2-mile.
Copps said he’s starting to consider trying to run in college. “I never really dreamed that I could get to the point where I could run in college until now,” he said.
NOTES
Lowell is the younger brother of Murray Copps, who was a standout runner at Old Rochester. … Lowell Copps said he likes competing in local road races. … He is also a member of the National Honor Society and is working toward becoming an Eagle Scout.
SUPER TEAM
Nathan Levesque, Apponequet, Senior
Levesque capped off his four years of running cross country at Apponequet with a strong senior season. He finished seventh at the South Coast Conference championship meet with a time of 18:28 and was named an SCC All-Star. He ran his season-best time of 17:53 over a 5K at the State Coaches Invitational. “His determination,” said Apponequet head coach Dan Rutledge of what makes Levesque stand out. “He’s a very tough runner and he likes to compete. He wants to improve.”
Jared Mendonca, Dartmouth, Junior
Mendonca made a big jump from his sophomore to junior seasons with an improvement of more than one minute. “He put in a lot of work over the summer and he came in strong from the start,” said Dartmouth head coach Hilary Sousa. Mendonca placed 10th at the Southeast Conference championship (18:03.58) to earn SEC All-Star honors. He also took 25th at the State Coaches Invitational Small junior/senior race with a time of 17:14.6. Mendonca came in 37th at the Div. 2A meet (17:24.4) at Wrentham. His season-best 5K time was 16:58.3.
Elaijah Monteiro, Dartmouth, Senior
Monteiro came back from an ankle injury to have a strong finish to the season and his cross country career. The Southeast Conference All-Star finished third (17:13.80) at the conference championship. He placed 18th (17:13.3) in the junior/senior race at the State Coaches Invitational. Monteiro, a two-time Standard-Times Super Teamer, ran a 17:20.5 to finish 27th during the Div. 2A meet at Wrentham and qualified for the Div. 2 All-State meet at Fort Devens, where he ran a 17:53.18 to place 89th. “He’s a natural athlete,” said Dartmouth head coach Hilary Sousa. “Running the three miles, he’s very competitive and hard working. This year he had put in the training over the summer. He can basically run any event in spring track from the 400 to the mile.”
Aidan Silk, Old Rochester, Senior
Silk enjoyed a breakthrough season in cross country as he finished second at the South Coast Conference championship (16:58) to earn SCC All-Star status. He also clocked a 16:58 to place 11th at the Div. 2C meet. Silk came in 54th at the Div. 2 All-State meet with a time of 17:25. “This year was a culmination of all that hard work paying off for him,” said Old Rochester coach Jessica Pilla. “Aidan is a great runner. He’s a great athlete. He puts in 100% in every single workout. He’s reliable and at practice every day.”
Daniel Ward, GNB Voc-Tech, Senior
Ward was once again among the top distance runners in the area, earning his second Super Team selection. Ward took sixth at the South Coast Conference meet with a time of 17:39 to earn SCC All-Star honors. He also ran a season-best 17:05 at the Twilight Invitational and a 17:10 at the Mass State Vocational championship. “He came into camp in shape,” said GNB Voc-Tech head coach Robert Southerland. “He had been working hard over the summer and he was ready to go. He’s a hard working and gifted athlete.”
Tyler Young, Old Rochester, Senior
Young earned his third selection to the Super Team for cross country as he helped the Bulldogs finish as SCC champs. The South Coast Conference MVP won the conference championship with a time of 16:51 after going undefeated during dual meets. He clocked a season-best 16:11.6 at Wrentham to place sixth at the Div. 2C meet and came in 42nd at the Div. 2 All-State meet with a time of 17:16. “He put in a lot of work over the summer,” said Old Rochester coach Jessica Pilla. “He was hurt last season and only ran one or two races so we didn’t get to see him a lot or see what he had. This year, he improved every single week.”
ALL-STAR TEAM
Tyler Amaral, Dartmouth, Junior
Amaral switched from soccer to cross country and enjoyed a ton of success last fall. The Southeast Conference All-Star ran a season-best 17:28.4 at the conference meet. He also ran 17:50.4 at the State Coaches Invitational and 18:21.6 at the Div. 2A meet. “He made a tremendous improvement from track to cross country,” said Dartmouth head coach Hilary Sousa. “He was more of a mid-distance runner before, but transitioned over to cross country and broke 18 minutes.”
Luke Bloom-Glover, Dartmouth, Senior
In his first year of running cross country, Bloom-Glover made big strides, earning Southeast Conference All-Star honors after finishing fourth at the conference meet (17:16). His season-best time was 16:59.7 at the State Coaches Invitational. He also ran a 17:37 at the Div. 2A championship. “He had never done cross country before,” said Dartmouth head coach Hilary Sousa. “It was impressive what Luke was able to do. He just had to get adjusted to running the courses in cross country.”
Nolan Bushnell, Old Rochester, Junior
After missing the start of the season, Bushnell finished strong. The South Coast Conference All-Star placed sixth at the conference meet (18:27). He clocked a season-best time of 17:50 at the Div. 2C meet, where he placed 36th. He then ran 18:48 at the Div. 2 All-State meet. “He didn’t get to race that much but had really good times at the end of the season,” said Old Rochester coach Jessica Pilla.
Joseph Castello, New Bedford, Junior
Castello was named a Southeast Conference All-Star after placing 15th at the SEC championship with a time of 18:50. He clocked a personal-best 18:22 at the Div. 1 meet. “I was happy with the way he finished off the season,” said New Bedford head coach Jeremy Tilton.
Conor Levesque, Bishop Stang, Junior
Levesque dropped nearly 50 seconds over the course of the season and finished with a season-best 18:22 at the Twilight Invitational. He came in 13th at the Catholic Central League meet and was named a CCL All-Star. He ran an 18:41 at the Frank Kelley Invitational and 18:28 at the Div. 2C meet. “He improved tremendously as the season progressed,” said Bishop Stang head coach Julie Isaksen.
Ryan Levesque, Apponequet, Sophomore
In his second year of running cross country, Levesque earned South Coast Conference All-Star honors after placing 10th at the conference championship. He also came in 22nd in the sophomore race at the Twilight Invitational with a season-best 18:14. Levesque came in 28th at the State Coaches Invitational.
HONORABLE MENTION
Nate Furtado, Apponequet, Senior; Luca Rubini, Apponequet, Sophomore; Dalton Baker, Bishop Stang, Junior; Liam Leary, Bishop Stang, Junior; Jack Lucy, Bishop Stang, Junior; Nathan Nevarez, Bishop Stang, Freshman; Brennen Vane, Bishop Stang, Freshman; Jacob Anuszczyk, Dartmouth, Junior; Adriano Sousa, Dartmouth, Junior; Nathaniel Wentworth, Dartmouth, Senior; Jack Finn, Fairhaven, Senior; Harrison Zheng, Fairhaven, Sophomore; Antonio Caneira, GNB Voc-Tech, Senior; Owen Vieira, GNB Voc-Tech, Senior; John Paul Morris, New Bedford, Freshman; John Bowman, Old Rochester, Senior; Theo Cecil, Old Rochester, Senior; Noah Robert-Hawley, Old Rochester, Sophomore.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: 2023 Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year, Super Team and All-Stars
