"We're 5-0 and that sounds good, but we've got some tough teams ahead of us," said SKHS boys' head coach Jim Champion, who led the Rebels to an 8-2 2005 record. "We'll do the best we can this year and hopefully the best is yet to come."

The Rebels will receive their biggest test of the season on Tuesday at 4 p.m. when they run against North Kingstown and Coventry at Coventry High School. The Skippers (5-0) have been the top dog of the Southern Division in recent years. They have been perfect (56-0) in regular season meets dating back to 2000.

"They've had a hold on it for quite awhile now. They're the team to beat in the Southern Division. They're the Hendricken of the South," said Champion, of North Kingstown. "The kids always get up for North Kingstown because of the natural rivalry, but we're almost in a more comfortable position because they're expected to beat us. But who knows. Maybe we'll come in and surprise them."

On Tuesday, sophomore Kevin Carey led the Rebels through the course for the second consecutive meet, winning the race in a time of 18:17. Carey heads a talented sophomore class that brings experience from winning state championships in Middle School and as freshmen.

Dan McCloskey (second, 18:24), Conor McCloskey (third, 18:34), Shawn Stadnick (fifth, 18:41), Scott LaMay (sixth, 19:36) and Connor Nelson (eighth, 19:53) are all sophomores who are being relied upon for scoring right now.

"The sophomore class has been a marked class coming right through middle school," said Champion. "They won the state championship in middle school, they won the Freshmen State Championships for us and now the majority of them are top seven varsity runners. They're quite a group. Very talented."

Stadnick was running in his first race after being slowed down by a knee operation in August. Stadnick is the younger brother of 2005 senior Justin Stadnick, who was the lead Rebel runner for four straight seasons.

Second-year senior Andrew Adham continued on his breakout season, clocking in at 18:36 to place fourth overall. Junior Joe Schrader placed seventh with a time of 19:45.

The Rebels are counting on the leadership of senior captains Kyle Hathaway and James Philbin with so many underclassmen on this year's team. Hathaway has been in the varsity lineup from the time he was a freshman and returns as the top meet scorer from last season.

"I'm really excited about the numbers," emphasized Hathaway. "I have 20 girls on the team this year. Last year I had a team of eight and I lost five seniors. This year, they go out there every day to run and there's friendly competition and it only makes them better."

They're a very young and enthusiastic team and they work really hard. So, it's been a lot of fun to see them come as far as they have in such a short period of time. I have a lot of hope for them."

Nelson and Morrissey both ran for Hathaway on the Broad Rock Middle School track and field team as eighth graders, finishing one, two at the Middle School State Championships in the 3,000.

"They were very talented runners at middle school, so I knew that they had a lot of ability, that they worked hard and that they really enjoyed running," said Harrington.

"I saw her run for Curtis Corner (Middle School) last year and I was hoping that I would have the opportunity to coach her because, just by watching her run in the meets, you could tell she was a go-getter and wasn't afraid to go out and run hard in a race."

Senior Rachael Johnson (22:50) finished fifth behind Thomas. The team captain and four-year veteran has taken charge of this young team and provided invaluable leadership.

"She's just done a great job of bringing these girls along," said Hathaway, of Johnson. "I give her a lot of credit because she's really pushing the girls, motivating them and helping with the team chemistry."

Sophomore Meg Kenyon (sixth, 23:13), senior Alex Filippo (seventh, 23:36), junior Katie Entwistle (eighth, 23:59), sophomore Roxanna Allamey (ninth, 24:03) and sophomore Catherine Martin (tenth, 24:34) all finished in the top ten for South.

Freshman Gabrielle Woodford competed in Tuesday's meet, but was hampered by a hip injury. When healthy, Woodford is a reliable top seven finisher.

Hathaway is also expecting contributions to be made by sophomores Rebecca Allamey and Rachel Spirito and freshmen Sophie Clode, Alisa Schrader and Amanda Gardner.

The Rebel are facing North Kingstown and Coventry on Tuesday at Goddard Park. Both teams will be competing in the Manchester Invitational on Saturday in Manchester, New Hampshire. Six different states will be represented in the meet.

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