By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

GLOCESTER – It doesn’t take Matt Macedo too long to start getting into his cross-country mode.
Within a few days after tossing his bat and glove aside, the Ponaganset High runner is out on the roads hitting the pavement.
“Right after baseball season,” he said. “I start right around mid-June. For the first week, I do about three miles a day. Every week from there, it’s just a little bit more.”
Macedo, a senior for the Chieftains, will be attacking the trails this fall with the distinction of being one of the fastest runners in the area. In fact, based on last year’s state championships, held at Ponaganset, one might argue that he is the best.

Macedo was second among local runners at the 2007 states, finishing 19th overall with a time of 16 minutes, 54.30 seconds for the five-kilometer course. Woonsocket’s Corey Brunelle, who graduated in June, had the top placement, taking ninth in 16:40.28.
“I think a realistic goal for me this year would be first-team All-State (top seven),” Macedo said. “Last year’s state meet wasn’t exactly my best race. I can’t really explain why, but it didn’t go too well.”
The 17-year-old Macedo, who also excels on the indoor track surface as a middle distance specialist – he was fifth in the 1,500 this past winter - is one of those unique runners involved in the sport where running is not a year-long ordeal. Instead of competing for the outdoor track team, Macedo chooses to occupy his spring months on the baseball field as an outfielder and second baseman for the Chieftains.
“I just have always played baseball,” he said. “I always loved playing baseball since Little League. That’s why I have always played it. I enjoy it. But that decision has been getting harder when spring comes around.”
While many of his rivals in cross-country may think he’s at a disadvantage because he’s not competing in track during the spring, Macedo doesn’t see it that way. Even though running is put on the back-burner while he’s playing ball, he feels he can easily switch his focus to cross-country once the baseball season ends.
“Mentally, it’s not an issue,” he said. “Physically, I have to start off slow and work my way up; just building my endurance so that by the start of the season I have it all under my belt.”
In preparation for the upcoming cross-country season, Macedo has gradually been building his daily mileage from three miles a day to about six or seven. He’s also incorporated a few tempo runs into his workouts.
“I just finished my seventh week and I think I did 50 or 60 (miles),” he said. “I ran 13 miles on Monday.”
To keep sharp and get into his racing mode, Macedo has also competed in a couple of road races this summer. He toed the line at the annual Glocester 5.5-Mile Road Race on July 4 and a few weeks later took part in the popular Blessing of the Fleet 10-Miler, where he ran a respectable time of 1:05:01.
“Everything is going well,” he said. “I feel ready to start the season.”
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In terms of the upcoming cross-country season, the area was hit hard by graduation. Macedo and the Chieftains saw four of their top seven varsity runners’ graduate from a squad that captured the division with a perfect 10-0 mark. It’s a similar scenario for the other teams that compete in the Northern Division.
“I think, actually, this year it will be a little less competitive in the league,” Macedo said. “There will be a lot more teams that are equal.”
Cumberland coach Tom Kenwood, who has no seniors on his 2008 squad that was second in the league (9-1), will be minus four of his five top runners from last year’s state meet. He agrees that there is no clear-cut favorite this fall, but he does feel one team does stick out.
“We’d like to win our division,” he admitted. “But I think a lot of teams are in the same position as us, losing a lot of key runners. I think North Providence is the team to beat. They have most of their kids from last year and they did very well.”
North Providence finished third in the division last year at 7-2-1, while Lincoln was fourth with a 7-3 mark.
Among some of the top returning runners from the area are Ponaganset’s Cole Maguire, Cumberland’s John Morgan, Steve Healey, Brian Sullivan and Sean Connolly, Lincoln’s Sam Carlson and Nat Filion and North Smithfield’s Mike Martin.
The season kicks off on Sept. 3 when teams from all over the state compete in the Injury Fund Cross-Country Carnival at Goddard State Park.