Franklin Park’s sights and sounds were a bit more noticeable Saturday with hundreds of young athletes racing through the city landmark in the latest Catholic Memorial Invite.

“This is our 63rd annual Catholic Memorial Invitational,” said Catholic Memorial athletic director Thomas Claiborne. “It’s a very, very big event. It’s great to get all the schools together, get schools from all over New England. Our coach, John (Finn), does a great job getting our schools invited to come down, and running this event. From what I heard, we had 53 teams entered in today, so that’s around 1,100 kids.”

The course presented a three-lap track spanning 3.1 miles, wrapping around Franklin Park Zoo and White Stadium with a slight series of tricks and obstacles. Emily Flagg quickly left her stamp on things in the varsity girls 5K by blazing to a winning time of 17:48.4. The Whitinsville Christian sophomore bested the field by 1:02.8.

“I like to start the race with an open mind,” said Flagg. “So just being nice, calm and quiet inside. Then, once I get into the woods, it’s time to lock in and focus, really get a feel on how my body’s feeling. Then, it’s time to go.”

The latter two boys 5K races were named after longtime Catholic Memorial cross country coach Vincent Catano and his family for their contributions to the sport. In the initial competition, the Vincent Catano Varsity Boys Red event, Keene, N.H., standout Sullivan Sturtz built a slight lead entering the final lap, then held off Marshfield senior Graham Heinrich for the title in 15:50.3.

“We have this two-week period between the end of our regular season and the beginning of our championship season,” said Sturtz. “Let me tell you, I just get in my head and all freaked out, thinking about championship races for two weeks. So my coach put me in this one to kind of break it up, give me something else to focus on.”

Later, in the Brother Barry Varsity Silver 5K, Newburyport junior Michael Mohoric won in 16:23.9.

“We’ve been doing some hill workouts,” said Mohoric. “Which I think was really important to staying alive on that final hill. Overall, it’s just about keeping my faith, and letting the man above guide the way.”

Lexington won the girls title, while Pinkerton Academy of Derry, N.H., and Bridgewater-Raynham split the boys’ crowns.

If the Catanos, Claiborne and Catholic Memorial have a say, they intend to keep this great event running for decades to come.

Sullivan Sturtz of Keene, N.H., places first in the Vincent Catano Varsity Boys Red 5K race during the Catholic Memorial Invitational at Franklin Park. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)

“I was fortunate enough to know coach Catano when I came into CM as a guidance counselor,” Claiborne said. “We’ve had a lot of extensive conversations. He’s just a running fanatic. He loves cross country, and he’s just a really good guy. So I think it’s only honorable to have an event like this to keep going on. Something that he started years ago, being an important member inside of our community. So, it’s always an honor to do something like this for a guy like that. He’s just a standup guy, he loves the sport. He still supports, and comes by the school. He’ll pick up some substitute teacher roles once in a while. He likes being around the kids, and around the program.”