Country School Races to Junior Olympics

The Country School thoroughbred runners 4th Grader Tash Frusztajer of Guilford, 5th Grader Laila Goodman of Old Lyme, 5th Grader Anna Gunderson of Guilford, sisters 3rd Grader Liv and 5th Grader Tillie Killam of Madison, 6th Grader Luke Schupp of Madison, and 8th Grade Captain Anna Vlieks of Madison traveled to the horse capital of the world Lexington, Kentucky, for the National Junior Olympics Championships. Racing for The Country School as individuals and for their club team Litchfield Track Club and led by long-standing coach John Fixx, the tenacious athletes won the Triple Crown by earning four All America citations, with all seven runners racing the day after devastating tornadoes touched down and caused over 100 deaths in Kentucky and surrounding states, with high winds and rain creating havoc for the race organizers and participants.

Liv Killam was among the race leaders in the 2K and finished eighth in the United States to become only the fifth All America in the Country School’s history after also taking 1st in November in the Connecticut Junior Olympics and in the New England and New York Junior Olympics. Robbie Cozean ‘16 of Madison earned the first three from 2014-2016.

In the 9 and 10-year-old race, Tillie Killam and Laila Goodman performed superbly, triumphing against many of the same girls from 45 states with whom they have raced over the years. Goodman finished fourth to become All America for the second time. Killam held on strongly for 9th place, earning All America for the second time and finishing in the same place she did two years ago in Madison, Wisconsin, in the National Championships. In November Goodman and Killam took 1st and 2nd in the Connecticut Junior Olympics and then 1st and 2nd in the New England and New York Junior Olympics.

Captain Anna Vlieks provided impressive leadership by showing all her teammates how to adjust to life’s vicissitudes due to the confusion resulting from the wake of the tornado. Running almost a mile longer than she had trained for, Vlieks had to enter the high school 3.1 mile race rather than the middle school shorter race. With the tenacity shown all season that had her take 5th place in the CT Championships, Vlieks finished 21st among the Nation’s 17 & 18 year olds and 26th among the 15 and 16 year olds, earning the 8th All-America distinction in Country School’s history.

The Country School has a decades-long history of preparing graduates for the strongest independent secondary schools and high school honors programs in the area and throughout New England. Founded in 1955, The Country School is a coeducational, independent day school serving 225 students in PreSchool through Grade 8, ages 3-14, on its 23-acre campus in Madison. For more information, contact Pam Glasser, Director of Admission and Curriculum, at 203-421-3113, extension 125, or pam.glasser@thecountryschool.org.