Adams Cross Country Stand Out Named USATF NE Athlete of the Month

Holliston Reporter

Photos and Text from D. Peter Vigue

Receiving a medal for finishing 3rd in Wisconsin

Carmen Luisi a member of the Adams Middle School Cross Country team just finished up an incredible season in November in Madison, Wisconsin, in the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic National Championships.   She ran in the 13-14 yr old division and came in a remarkable 3rd place with a personal record time of 14:03, after being seeded 9th in the country going into the meet.

Carmen Luisi crossing the finish line 1st in the NE Championship meet.

To get there, Carmen had to qualify in the New England Championship race in RI, where she won, while snowflakes danced around the course. Then Luisi went on to NY in the Region 1 meet to finish 2nd on a very cold and sloppy day.  

In Madison Luisi competed against 315 other runners in frigid weather, but her training, determination and positive attitude paid off, giving her the resolve to finish 3rd and achieve USATF All American status.  For her efforts, Luisi has been named the USATF NE Athlete of the Month, the first Holliston athlete in many years to be distinguished with that honor.

Luisi mid-race in Wisconsin.

After severely injuring her knee in soccer in 6th grade, Luisi dedicated herself to running, and it clearly has paid off.  The meet in Wisconsin capped a storybook season.  This past XC season she was undefeated in MA, winning all her dual meets and breaking the Holliston course record twice in the process.   She also won the 3 biggest Invitationals of the season–all for the 2nd year in a row; the Ocean State Invitational in RI, where she set a course record; the Central MA Invitational, besting that course record, and the MA Middle School State meet, where she set the Championship race record, just missing the course record by 1 second.

An excellent student as well, Luisi will resume training after taking time off and hopes to qualify for the New Balance Scholastic Indoor mile this winter in NYC. 

From USA Track and Field New England

One thought on “Adams Cross Country Stand Out Named USATF NE Athlete of the Month

  1. Fabulous result, and many congratulations to Carmen. Happy to photograph some of the meets next season. Just let me know and let’s see if we can make it work.

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