Country School's Mighty Cross Country Runners

MADISON, CT -Fielding one of the smallest teams in a competition that involves 16 schools, The Country School girls kept their two-season undefeated streak alive on Saturday, October 8, and won the prestigious Wickham Invitational, a feat no Country School team has ever before achieved. In the girls’ race, which brought together teams from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, The Country School’s runners narrowly defeated the perennial powerhouses who brought over 50 girls compared to the nine Owls who towed the line with blue and gold ribbons in their hair.

Laila Goodman of Old Lyme once again led the team, pulling off an impressive sprint on the final 300-meter uphill to nab fifth place. Friend and classmate Tillie Killam of Madison scored an impressive eighth place, only three seconds behind, sending the message to the entire field that the two fastest 6th Graders in these three states are Laila and Tillie. Following in her sister’s footsteps, 4th Grader Liv Killam, who will be competing at Wickham for years to come, took fourth for the team and 19th overall on the 3K course she has come to love. Sixth Grader Maribel Smith of Madison took the crucial fifth spot for the squad, coming down the mountain to run a strong second half to secure the team’s victory.

Rounding out the team, regionally-ranked tennis player, 8th Grader Ksenia Podolseva of Madison, showed leadership and guts in securing 13th place overall, also sprinting past competitors in the final drive. Ksenia was followed by rising stars Anna Gunderson of Guilford and Maybe Hladky of Wallingford, bumping the competitors back because of their strong placing in 25th and 36th, respectively.

Founded in 1955, The Country School is a coeducational, independent day school serving over 215 students in PreSchool through Grade 8. October 30 The Country School will host an Open House and a Kindergarten Readiness Info Session and from 1-3:30 p.m. PreSchool-8th Grade families are invited to tour our beautiful campus and speak with faculty, families, and administration to learn why parents have trusted their children's education to The Country School for 68 years. The more you learn about The Country School the more confident you will be that this is the school where your child will thrive. To learn more and register for Open House, visit https://go.thecountryschool.org/open-house/.