Xavier, Middletown Runners Qualify for New England Championships

MANCHESTER, CT — Hundreds of runners tackled the Green Monster at Wickham Park at the CIAC State Open cross country championships Friday, and some familiar names topped the leaderboard.

Drew Thompson of Fairfield Prep, who placed second in 2016, just a second behind Zakeer Ahmad of Staples, coasted to victory this year with a time of 15:44, beating runner-up Brendan Murray of Cheshire by 17 seconds over the 3.1 mile course. Robert Dillon of Shelton was third.

In the girls' race, Morgan McCormick of Wilton breezed to her second straight Open triumph in 18:23, trimming 20 seconds off last year's winning mark. In 2016, she edged Hayley Collins of Tolland by just two seconds, but this year, she handily left Katherine Wiser of Pomperaug behind by 19 seconds. Meredith Bloss of Guilford wound up third.

Xavier and Staples tied for the boys' team lead with 61 points each, with Xavier declared champion by tiebreaker (better finish by the sixth runner). Fairfield Warde was third with 137 points.

For the girls, Glastonbury's 80 points easily topped Danbury, which had 128. Pomperaug was third with 136.

The top 25 individual boys and girls and the top six teams in each division qualified for the New England Championships, to take place Saturday, Nov. 11 in Belfast, Maine.

Here are the top 25 finishers and top six teams in each race. Click the headers for complete results of boys and girls races.

BOYS

1. Drew Thompson, Fairfield Prep, 15:44

2. Brendan Murray, Cheshire

3. Robert Dillon, Shelton

4. Benjamin Seiple, Staples

5. Eli Nahom, New Milford

6. Joe Pearl, Manchester

7. Maximillian Sparks, Canton

8. Peter Schulten, Xavier

9. Christian Myers, Staples

10. Ken Little, Derby

11. William Landowne, Staples

12. Alex Mocarski, Fairfield Warde

13. James Maniscalco, Fairfield Warde

14. Andrew Meredith, Haddam-Killingworth

15. Dan Nichols, Danbury

16. Owen Curran, Xavier

17. William Curran, Xavier

18. Azaan Dawson, Fairfield Prep

19. Dillon Selfors, Xavier

20. Robbie Cozean, Xavier

21. Killian McNamee, Tolland

22. Zachary King, Ledyard

23. Heath Olivieri, East Catholic

24. Kyle Hotchkiss, Kennedy

25. Nicholas Taubenteim, Staples

Teams

1. Xavier, 61

2. Staples, 61

3. Fairfield Warde, 137

4. Fairfield Prep, 162

5. Haddam-Killingworth, 183

6. Hall, 185

GIRLS

1. Morgan McCormick, Wilton, 18:23

2. Katherine Wiser, Pomperaug

3. Meredeith Bloss, Guilford

4. Kate Hedlund, Manchester

5. Angela Saidman, Immaculate

6. Lauren Moore, Danbury

7. Bethany Ottowitz, Watertown

8. Celia Chacko, Aerospace

9. Alexandra Chakar, Danbury

10. Elizabeth Stockman, Rocky Hill

11. Angela Braga, Glastonbury

12. Kylie Raymond, Somers

13. Madison Villa, Pomperaug

14. Emily Philippides, Greenwich

15. Kayla Cohen, New Fairfield

16. Mady Whittaker, Montville

17. Alessandra Zaffina, Trumbull

18. Miranda Graves, E.O. Smith

19. Brittany Anderson, Glastonbury

20. Ariana Monarca, Middletown

21. Grace Sparrow, Glastonbury

22. Juliana Cancellieri, Berlin

23. Kelsey D'Amico, Haddam-Killingworth

24. Hazel Hudson, New Fairfield

25. Alexandra Ross, Glastonbury

Teams

1. Glastonbury, 80

2. Danbury, 128

3. Pomperaug, 136

4. Guilford, 153

5. Haddam-Killingworth, 219

6. Trumbull, 236

Pictured (in order): Peter Schulten, Xavier; Alex Mocarski, Fairfield Warde, and William Curran, Xavier; Owen Curran, Xavier; Dillon Selfors, Xavier; Robbie Cozean, Xavier; Ariana Monarca, Middletown.

Story and photos by Tim Jensen