Wellesley High senior Thomas D’Anieri set a new school record for the outdoor mile at this past week’s Bay State League Championships in Braintree, jumping out to an early lead on the blue oval and never giving it up to finish in 4.19.93. D’Anieri last fall was crowned as the state’s top cross country runner and led his team to its best season ever.
At this week’s Bay State event, D’Anieri topped the previous record of 4:21.7 set by Rich Benner in 1974 at the State Coach’s Invitational (Benner broke Bruce Olsen’s 1972 record of 4:26.7).
Benner, who was on hand for the race in Braintree, said: “My WHS Coach, Will St. Cyr, emphasized the importance of being part of a tradition of strong distance runners, so I (and other runners from my era) have enjoyed seeing the resurgent strength of the Wellesley distance program.”
He and his wife Kim also enjoyed seeing their son John, a senior at Needham High who has made a strong comeback from injuries, win the 2-mile race at the Bay State meet.
Meanwhile, the season isn’t over for Thomas D’Anieri or his twin brother Matt, who torched the field in the 800 meter race at the Bay State event to set a new WHS record (1:56:21) and who also broke the school’s indoor mile record over the winter (4:17:79). The brothers still have a few more meets to go — including divisionals, states and nationals — before they wrap up their WHS running careers.
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