Xavier Sprints Past Amity Cross Country for SCC Championship

Xavier edged Amity 54-60 Thursday afternoon to win the Southern Connecticut Conference boys cross country championship at Hammonasset State Park in Madison. They key to the Falcon win was David Pugliese came in second and teammate Russell Stevens was ninth. Their respective times were 16 minutes, 34 seconds and 16:57.31. Amity top finishers were Clark Shurtleff (6^th—16:46.52) and Adam Kelley (11^th—16:59). Shae Belenski (12^th-17:03), Nate Arndt (13^th—17:05), and Connor Dunleavy (18^th—17:29) were the other top five Spartan harriers. While Xavier’s average time was 17:02, Amity’s was two seconds slower at 17:04.

For the second year in a row, Fairfield Prep’s Connor Rog was the meet’s individual champ as he completed the 3.1 mile course in 15:59. (Amity Coach Bob Orgovan reported that Rog is currently ranked as the fifth best scholastic cross country runner in the U.S.) Prep placed third with 63 points.

According to Orgovan, “I though all along this race would turn into a three team battle and the results would be very close. We’re disappointed that we didn’t win but also very pleased with how we ran. My boys all thought that they ran well, but Xavier ran just a little better than we did. They averaged only two seconds faster that we did. (17:02-17:04). Last year we were fourth in the SCC and the next week we came back to win the Class LL state championship. I’m hoping we do the same thing again on Saturday when we run for the Class LL championship at Wickham Park (in Farmington) at 1 p.m.”

Orgovan also noted that Xavier got a huge boost with the return of their top runner, Tom Pugliese. Due to an injury, hew missed the entire dual meet season. Puglise ran for the first time in the recent Wickham Park Invitation but was not close to being up to his norm. Back at full strength for the SCC championship meet, Pugliese placed second and led his team with a time of 16:34.

“Pugliese was the difference in the final results. Without him, Xavier doesn’t win,” he said.

Counting just the top four finishers on each team, Xavier would still have won but Fairfield Prep would have slipped past Amity into second place. Amity’s No. 5 runner, Connor Dunleavy placed 18^th, while his Jesuit counterpart, Scott Ball was 33^rd (17:59).

Orgovan added, “Those 30 seconds were the difference. We picked up 18 points and Prep got 33. We beat them by only three points.”

Turning his focus to Saturday’s Class LL Championship Race, Orgovan saw it coming down to just four teams—Fairfield Prep, Xavier, Danbury, and Amity.

“It’s going to be a real battle but I expect one of those four teams to win the LL title.” He said

Orgovan pointed out that his Spartans may have an edge over Prep as the Jesuits train and run their home races on a flat course—similar to the Hammonasset State Park course in Madison. The Class LL championship race will be run at Wickham Park, which has two significant hills.

He added, “We never run well at Hammonasset because it is so flat. We work hard and train hard on our own course which is hilly. Over the years’ we’ve run harder and done better on hilly courses than we have done on flat courses.”

The top 12 finishers in the SCC Championship Race were named to the All-SCC team. Included in that group were Spartans Shurtleff, Kelley, and Belensky. The top 8 Housatonic Division finishers were named to the All-Housy team. Shurtleff, Kelley, Belensky, Arndt, Dunleavy, and Mike Yuan earned All-Division recognition.