Area Runners Distinguish Themselves at XC Class Meet

It was difficult to determine who the kids were racing against at the state cross country class races on Saturday.

Indeed, not only were the runners cometing against each other, they also were racing against time, trying to sneak in as many races as possible before the October blizzard blew through central Connecticut.

As it turned out, the heavy snow conspired to cancel the last three races - Class S girls, and both Class SS races. Race organizers, however, still managed to sneak in the first nine races. Below are some of the major highlights:

Suffield Boys Capture Class M Crown

Senior Dan Moroney led the Suffield boys cross country team to the state Class M title at Wickham Park in Manchester on Saturday morning.

Moroney upset Rocky Hill’s Joe Crafa to finish the 3.1-mile course first in 16:21.

It was the Wildcats first state title since winning the Class SS championship in 1998.

“It was kind of a dream freshman year,” Moroney said. “It all seemed really far away. Today at the bottom of the hill, [Crafa] was pushing a good pace, but I knew I could go faster, so I went for it. I took the lead on the hill [about two miles in] and I said, ‘Today is my day, I’m going to go win it.’”

It turned out that Suffield needed Moroney’s unexpected first-place finish, as the Wildcats narrowly edged second-place Rocky Hill by one point 73-74.

“To win as a team, it’s incredible to have the perfect season undefeated, conference champion, state champion, it doesn’t get better than that,” Moroney said.

Suffield head coach Dom Casolari said that he was particularly proud of Moroney, a senior who battled through injuries most of his career.

“For the work he’s done in four years, he absolutely deserves it,” Casolari said. “His work ethic, his commitment to this season is just unparalleled to any runner I’ve had through the years. This just caps his cross country career. He deserves it.”

Casolari said that the idea of being a state champion coach still hadn’t sunk in.

“Any team that wins a state title, it’s an honor,” he said. “I’m ecstatic for the boys. This group of boys worked so hard. I had five seniors here, so I’m ecstatic for them.”

It’s been a dream season for the Wildcats, who swept through the NCCC regular season undefeated and finished first at the NCCC championship meet a week ago.

Next up is the State Open, where the boys hope to qualify for the New England Championships, which will be held in Rhode Island this year.

The Suffield girls placed third in Class M, led by Elizabeth Rigby (13th), Monique Labarre (14th), Hannah Gardocki (27th), Hannah Gardocki (32nd) and Gabrielle Rusczyk (41st).

“I think they ran a better race than they did at the NCCC’s,” said co-head coach Pat Dougherty, who was thrilled with his team’s performance. “Our No. 1 [Elizabeth Rigby], I can’t say enough about her. She’s been training every day for three miles on bad ankle and she was in the top 15. It was an incredible performance for everyone who followed her. I can’t say enough. I think our last runner was 50th or something. Put all those guys at the top of the race. They ran much better, they were focused.”

Tolland Boys win Class MM

The Tolland High boys cross country team overcame adversity and won the state Class MM title at Wickham Park on Saturday.

Matt Menshner led the Eagles with a second place finish (16:28) to help his team to its fourth consecutive state title, though its first at the Class MM level.

Colin Sauter (7th), Tim Zigmont (10th), Connor Lafontaine (18th) and Matt Snydal (22nd) rounded out the top five for the Eagles, who had 59 points to second-place Watertown’s 66.

Not bad for a team that lost it’s No. 3 runner just a few weeks ago.

“They ran really well today,” head coach Brandon Elliott said. “We had not performed as unit consistently throughout the season. We put together some good races certain times of the season. We ran pretty good at the Wickham invitational but not quite as good as we could have earlier in the season. Being state champion last year, we had a lot of things coming back this year to figure out now, because we’re not that team this year. Everybody has to establish their role. Today they really put it all together for the first time.

Tolland Girls Take Class M

And a freshman shall lead them.

Freshman Courtney Akerley led the Tolland girls cross country team to its first state Class M title by finishing fifth with a time of 19:30.

Emily Howard (8th), Melissa Caron (21st), Rachel Gedansky (29th), Molly Kozlowski (37th) rounded out the top five for the Eagles, which finished with 100 points to second-place Hillhouse’s 115.

Tolland head coach Judi Lafontaine was thrilled for the title, noting that she’s had her eye on Akerley for a few years.

“Courtney is really an outstanding freshman,” head coach Judi Lafontaine said. “She’s been coming up through the ranks the last several years. She ran track in middle school. I’ve known for a long time waiting for her to get to high school. This is my fourth year coaching. This is the hardest we’ve ever worked. It’s extremely well deserved. It’s amazing. These girls have put everything into this. I have four seniors graduating. For them to have this title means everything. What’s nice is these four seniors have helped me set up this program to be at the elite level.”

Avon’s Rachel Rosow Class MM champion

Avon High sophomore Rachael Rosow improved on an 11th-place performance at the Class MM meet last year by winning won her first state Saturday at Wickham Park.

Rosow took advantage of an unusually fast start and kept the pressure on the whole race.

“It’s unusual for me,” Rosow said of pushing the pace. “My coach told me I had a shot of winning this race today and when someone tells me I have a shot at winning, I’m going to just put it all down. I went out hard … I felt so strong and so sharp … that I just kept my pace off.”

How does it feel to be a state champion?

“It feels awesome,” Rosow said. “You know, you wait for these races that you feel really good, and today was that day.”

Rosow’s performance helped Avon finish second in Class MM behind Guilford, which won its eighth straight state title. Avon finished with 70 points. Sara Stokesbury (4th) Molly Hamel (12th), Madison Zapatka (26th) and Katie McIntyre (27th) rounded out the top five for Avon.

Farmington’s Matt Simoneau All State

Farmington High’s Matt Simoneau continued his terrific season by earning a place on the state Class L All-State team with a seventh place finish at Wickham Park in Manchester Saturday.

Simoneau finished the 3.1-mile course in 16:54.

“It’s exciting,” Simoneau said. “My goal was to make the State Open, which is top 12. I was able to stay with the group and roll with it. It feels awesome [to be All-State.]

Matt Chisholm, Kyle Koziol, Edward Tomasso and Zachary Ruh rounded out the scoring for Farmington, which placed seventh in Class L.

Simsbury boys, girls turn in solid efforts

Kevin Stanko finished sixth in the state Class LL race at Wickham Park to lead the Simsbury boys to a fourth place finish overall.

Joel Kirk (22nd), Jefferson Wilkes (25th), David Schmetterling (49th), and Alexander Constantin (50th) rounded out the scoring for the Trojans.

It was a performance that pleased head coach Michael Cohen.

“I think we ran well,” Cohen said. “We didn’t run great. I think we will run better at the open. It’s always nice when hard work pays off and it paid off. Coming in fourth in basically a State Open field is really very good. We were up against some very very good teams. The boys ran well. Conditions weren’t good, they weren’t fantastic. And I think as a team we ran very well.”

Coupled with the CCC title the boys won last Thursday, Cohen said that the season has been a successful one.

“The CCC is one of the toughest conferences with the Glastonburys and the Conards and the Tollands,” he said. “That’s good. I’m always concerned that the boys are reaching their peak at this point of the season and I think they are.”

On the girls side, the Trojans also placed fourth, behind six of the seven Simsbury runners turning in personal bests at the Wickham Park course.

Sarah Mattison (10th), Victoria Schuler (15th), Laura Picard (16th), Joelle Ross (53rd) and Claire Stuart (58th) accounted for Simsbury’s top five.
        
“I thought the girls ran a great strategic race,” Chris Medve said. “I thought they ran hard. Was it enough to take the title, I don’t know.”

Medve credited the hard work of Picard, who hadn’t run during the off season while tending to injuries.

Conard’s Edward Wilson All-State

Conard High’s Edward Wilson turned in a stellar performance at the state Class LL meet, finishing the 3.1-mile course in fourth place with a time of 16:14.

Wilson, Neal Hambrecht, Brian Francoeur, Brendon Rossmeisl, Evan Ferguson-Hull, Kyle Hall and Theodore Monyak all combined for finished 10th in Class LL.

Hall High, for its part, finished 12th, with Bradley Schwartz (39th) and Christopher Ahlquist (52nd) leading the way.

West Hartford’s third high school that competes in the CIAC, Northwest Catholic, saw its Class SS races postponed until Monday due to heavy snow.
     
Granby boys and girls 9th in Class M

John Stingle (15th) led the Granby boys cross country team to a ninth place finish in the state Class M meet at Wickham Park.

Dylan Chicoine, Ethan Lang, Mitchell Rennels and Alexandre Tessle rounded out the scoring for the Bears.

“I think we had a good team race,” head coach Dennis Lobo said. “The times seem to express that. I was disappointed for Stingle. We were shooting for top 12 [which would have qualified him for the State Open race next Friday]. But the times were good. The kids finished strong and I thought they ran a really good second half of the race.”

The girls, for their part, were led by the A-Team - Ashley Piccirillo-Hor (15th) and Alexa Cipkas (18th)) - as well as Stephanie Dantos (23rd).  Michelle St. Amour and Sarah Toth rounded out the Bears’ scoring.

Head coach Wally Hansen was mildly disappointed with the result.

“We were a little flat,” Hansen said. “But I think overall we did pretty well. We had three girls in the top 25, which is pretty good. None in the top 12, that’s what we were hoping for. That’s what the goal was today. But, from a time standpoint, I thought they ran pretty fast. I’m very happy with the season. Great group of kids. Worked hard. All in all, not too bad.”

The State Open in scheduled for Friday at Wickham Park in Manchester at 4 p.m.