Big Blue Sports

Big Blue Runners Battle Tanners

The showdown took place on Peabody's course on Tuesday.

  Submitted by Swampscott cross country coach Jeffrey Bartlett The Big Bue Cross-Country squads traveled to Peabody High School on Tuesday to take on the undefeated Peabody Tanners. Although this was a cross-over meet with Peabody in the NEC North and Swampscott in the NEC South, the Big Blue knew they had a great opportunity to race against two of the top teams in the conference and in Massachusetts. The weather was perfect for fall racing, with the course traversing through scenic Brooksby Farm. The Big Blue boys knew they needed to place highly up front to allow some space for their depth runners, who would have to attempt to split up Peabody's pack. Senior captain Peter Hale continued his string of first place finishes by crossing the …

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Swampscott Cross Country Coach Will Be Watching Gold Medal Race

Marblehead marathoner Shalane Flanagan is now on an international stage but she ran some of the same courses that today's Swampscott High runners run.

  Editor's Note: This story appeared before the marathon was run early Sunday. Shalane finished 10th in the marathon. Marblehead’s Shalane Flanagan competes in the women’s marathon on Sunday, Aug. 5. The race will be shown live on NBC, Channel 7, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Her Marblehead High School accomplishments included three-time All-State cross country performances, a first-place All-State finish in the mile, and a two-mile win whose record still stands; her 4:46 mile won the Indoor National Scholastic Championships. She attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she won national cross country titles in 2002 and 2003 — becoming the first individual champion in the sport in Tar Heel history — and numerous track accolades…

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Big Blue Sports

Reflections on All-State Meet and All Season

First-year cross country coach Jeff Bartlett answers questions on his inaugural Swampscott season following Dom Finelli's years as coach.

  The course at Franklin Park is a solid mix of grass, dirt, and rolling hills. It can be a fast course if it's raced correctly. The multiple loops on the course makes it spectator friendly, and makes it easy to break down the race into separate parts. It's a great venue, and we're lucky to have a course like Franklin Park so close to home! The All-State meet features the best teams and individuals from across the state: Eastern, Central, and Western Massachusetts. The competition is the highest you're going to get within the state during the year. It's a great opportunity to run against some excellent teams and runners. We went in there with the mindset of enjoying ourselves and seeing what we could do. The boys were just happy to be …

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Big Blue Sports

Big Blue Cross Country Coach Named

The new Swampscott High cross country coach is Jeff Bartlett, previously assistant cross country coach at Danvers High School.

This article was submitted by Alison Argentieri, athletic director at Swampscott High School. On behalf of the Swampscott High School Athletic Department, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Jeffrey Bartlett as head cross country coach. Jeff currently serves as a health education teacher at Holten-Richmond Middle School in Danvers. Additionally, Jeff has served as the assistant cross country and indoor track coach at Danvers High School for two years and co-head coach of the boys outdoor track and field team at Danvers High School for one year. His references fully validate his commitment to, knowledge of and enthusiasm for education and athletics.  The interview committee, consisting of three student-athletes, one parent, one …

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The Finelli Formula

Former Swampscott cross country Coach Dom Finelli draws on all corners to build a team.

Throw a pencil in the corner, make it a race to get it first and Domenic Finelli will dive and scrap for it, he says. You can bet the former Swampscott cross country coach would also have a plan. And if there’s was book on pencil races he would have read it and thought about it. He would have trained, too. Now, Finelli will take his formula for building a track program to St. Mary’s in Lynn after his resignation in Swampscott over differences with the school administration. Finelli likes competition and winning. It’s disappointing to walk away, he says, but he feels good about the program. One of the best parts of his coaching experience in Swampscott was the team building that culminated in a large squad whose members were self-motivated …

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David Whelan

10:29 am on Monday, April 25, 2011

Peter is not the cross country coach.   more ›

Domenic Finelli to Coach St. Mary's Cross Country

Former Swampscott cross country and track coach Domenic Finelli will be starting from scratch in the new post, much like he did in Swampcott.

Domenic Finelli said on Wednesday afternoon that he has accepted the cross country coaching position at St. Mary's  school in Lynn. The grades 6-12 Catholic college prepatory school has not had a cross country program for six or seven years so the coach will be starting from scratch, he said. He looks forward to the challenge. He said it was a tough decision to leave Swampscott and take a job elsewhere after years building the Swampscott program.  When Finelli started coaching Swampscott runners in 2002 there were only four boys and three girls on the cross country team. Five years later the school won the state championship. His last season,  fall 2010, the high school program was one of the largest, if not the largest, in the state with …

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track joe

9:40 am on Monday, April 4, 2011

some jealous people took down that sign!!!!   more ›