Cross Country Roundup: Boys Race into Number One Postion in State

Despite torrential rain and a very muddy, slippery course, the Amity boyds cross country team finished first (out of 46 teams) in the 21^st annual Woods Trail Run, which was held at Thetford Academy in Thetford, Vermont. The Spartans not only won the 3.1 mile race but also outpointed Fairfield Prep (96-113).  The Jesuits had been the top-ranked team in the state) but Amity will now replace them as No. 1 in the state.

“It rained really hard and the course was muddy, but considering the terrible conditions, I thought we ran quite well,” Coach Bob Orgovan said. “Before the race, I told my boys that their times would be way off and virtually meaningless due to the weather and for them just go out and run hard against the competition. Their times were about two minutes slower per person—but it was the same story for everybody in the race.”

Orgovan recalled that the last time Amity ran at Thetford Academy was in the 2005 New England Championship race—which his Spartans won. Ironically the weather and course conditions that day were almost identical as they were on Saturday.

He added, “Before Saturday’s race, I sensed that my boys were very confident. In reality they ran better than I had expected. Only one of them (Clark Shurtleff) had ever run in conditions as bad as they were on Saturday.”

The race included 162 runners from 46 schools across New England and New York. Fairfield Prep’s Conor Rog won the race with a time of 17 minutes 1 second.  Shurtleff  was 5^th overall at 17:50. Behind him came  teammates Adam Kelly (17^th—18:36), Nate Arndt (20^th—18:47), Shae Belinski (25^th—18:53), Brendon Regan (36^th—19:05), Conor Dunleavy (39^th—19:14), and Mike Yuan (49^th—19:23).

Earlier in the week, the Spartan harriers blanked West Haven, Notre Dame, and Lyman Hall by identical shutout scores of 15-50 in a 3.1 mile Southern Connecticut Conference race that was hosted by the Westies. Amity claimed the first 8 spots in that race and improved its dual meet record to 4-0 (1-0 against Housatonic Division opponents). Arndt won then race in 17:19. He was followed across the finish line by Kelley (17:20), Regan (17:21), Shurtleff (17:34), Belinski (17:31), Yuan (17:37), Dunleavy (17:52), and Aaron Barkin (O17:58).

According to Orgovan, “We ran a strong race and ran together in a nice pack. Running in a pack has always been the strength of our teams.”

The undefeated Spartans host Sheehan, Foran, and Hand on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in an SCC race on the Fitzgerald Trail in Woodbridge.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Amity’s undefeated girls cross country team improved its record to 4-0 last week when it defeated West Haven (17-46), Lyman Hall (17-46), and Sacred Heart (19-44) in a Southern Connecticut Conference race on West Haven’s 2.5 mile course.

Sara Beland led all runners across the finish line. Her time was 16:59. Lee Ann Beedle (3^rd —17:10), Lisa Gorham (4^th—17:11), Sara Beland (7^th—17:21), and Cynthia Greenberg (8^th—17:25) complete the list of Amity’s top 5 finishers.

“I had hoped we’d run 3.1 miles but it ended up a shorter course than we are used to. Despite that I thought we ran quite well. With the shorter course, we had a chance to run faster. All in all, we had a very good race. It was a good test to see where we were. The results were about what I expected,” Coach Sean Mahon said.

The Lady Spartans will also run against Sheehan, Foran, and Hand on Tuesday afternoon  at 4 p.m. on their 3.1 mile Fitzgerald Trail course.