Bunnell Cross Country Teams get a Taste of Wickham Park

On Saturday October 10th, at the distinguished Wickham State Park in Manchester, the Bunnell High School cross country teams took part in the 2026 and 43rd annual Wickham Park high school 5K Invitational.

Bunnell was one of eighteen teams that took part in the Class MM division.

The temperatures hovered around 65 degrees, no wind, mostly sunny skies, a great afternoon for cross county racing.

On arrival most of the athletes were reminded of the particulars of the course.

It is described as a course that covers some 280 acres of gardens, open fields, woodlands and trails, in addition to picnic areas. The course also runs along a natural balcony overlooking the hills of the western skyline.

Right now the leaves on the trees are starting to change colors in this early autumn season, it added flavor to the numerous team colors from the 18 teams entered into this 5000 meter race.

What runners always think about is the two hundred meter hill known as the “Green Monster”. Most runners use spikes to handle the wood chipped, grass covered, and gravel covered hill.

Thousands of spectators were on hand and lined up along the key areas along the course, often swapping spots to follow their favorite athletes.

Bunnell sent five boys to the starting line in box twenty-two with the race scheduled for a 3:15 start.

A race marshall gave the field of 186 racers official race instructions and then sounded the opening blast.

All 186 are tasked with getting into a narrow lane within two-tenths of a mile from the starting line. Runners who do not get there ahead of the pack struggle to gain ground in catching up to the leaders.

A big part for Bunnell in this race was to gain experience on this course where in three weeks time they will be heading back to make a bid at the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class MM Championships being held on Saturday October 31st.

Back to mile one in this one with it being too early to call in the top five.

One of those top five was Bunnell’s Andrew Rehm. Rehm has been outstanding in the South West Conference this season and has averaged a 17:35 5K time with one regular season meet left.

Leading the top ten was E.O. Smith’s Senior Gabriel White, followed by Rockville’s Emmet Kristoff, Fitch’s Conner Dube, a pair of East Greenwich runners Quinn Connelly and Andrew Parisi.

Ellington’s Alexander Bianchi was advancing and so was Max Mattingly from E.O. Smith.

But this race was far from over and it was a tight pack up front with place positions changing quite often and nothing would be settled until these racers went up against the “ Green Monster” at the midway point.

Coming off the “Green Monster”, close to mile two, up in the balcony trails of the course, an area with a clear view of the western skyline including parts of the State Capitol - Hartford, the race would see some place positions be established and then there was the hard charging boys from Xavier making a push from the top twenty towards the top ten.

The leader was White and he had a fifteen second lead over Parisi, Bianchi, and Dube.

They were followed by Kristoff and Connolly.

Then enter five from Xavier with them running those five runners across the running lanes and clearly in the top ten and getting stronger in final moments with a quarter mile remaining.

The names of this Xavier group, certainly a force to reckon with in the Class MM Championships later this month, are Quentin Koch, Holden Hines, James Perrault, Nolan O’Connor, and Alex Brown.

White crossed the line first with a time of 16:10, Bianchi in second at 16:32, Parasi was third at 16:33, Dube was fourth at 16:34, Kristoff in fifth at 16:48, Connolly sixth at 16:51.

Then it was five straight Xavier finishers, remarkably separated by only tenths of a second.

Koch credited with seventh at 16:57.1, eighth Hines also credited with a time of 16:57.1, Perrault in ninth with a third straight time of 16:57.1, in tenth O’Connor at 16:57.2, and eleventh completing the Xavier bunch was Brown at 16:57.6.

Rehm (34th) had a time of 17:35.

Fellow Bunnell teammates Alden Clarke with his best time on this course came in at 18:51, Blake Staffey in at 19:02, Holden Adams in at 22:57.5, and Santiago Pineda in at 32:30.9.

In team scoring it was Xavier with a score of 45 points giving them first place, followed by East Greenwich with 82 points, and in third was Guilford at 145 points.

Now on the girls side, a field of 130 finishers took to the course and right off the starting blast Madison McGarry out of Avon, a Freshman, bolted out of the gate in front, then a pack of runners too early to identify heading into the choke point.

Squeezing by this choke point pretty much sets up the rest of the race. Those escaping ahead shave off quite a bit of time from those who are forced to wait their turn.

For Bunnell, Peyton Biggs was able to get by and be in with the top half of the field but not without a struggle to get up to the leaders.

Teammate Haneeya Gbadamassi got caught up in the slow down but managed to stay in the middle half of the field.

Teammate Abbi Forcier was slightly ahead of Gbadamassi but within the first mile developed a lower leg injury and was forced to retire from the race.

Back to the top and the leaders of the pack it really opened up after the first mile.

McGarry had a ten second lead over Mercy’s Cora Wasiolek, followed by East Greenwich’s Kayla Siedliski.

Running fourth was a pair from Woodstock, Emilia Langevin and Rimoczy, and Rham’s Edie Ranta.

Right there with Ranta was Windsor’s Maya Donzella.

Watertown’s Avah Hoxhallari was within striking distance of all four of the above so was Avon’s Abigail Van Hoof and Lakeview’s Lilyana Markovich rounding out the top ten.

Biggs and Gbadamassi fell back into the middle runners and beating their best times on this course was now the goal.

Going up the “ Green Monster” McGarry looked strong, enjoying the top spot.

Next was Wasiolek, Siedliski, with the next runners ( Langevin, Rimoczy, Edie Ranta, Donzella, and Hoxhillari ) swapping positions a few times.

Van Hoof and Markavich at nine and ten.

With a quarter mile remaining the push was on for the middle top ten.

McGarry cruised in with a 19:16 finish earning first place.

In second Wasiolek at 19:35 and in third Sieliski at 19:52.

The battle for fourth place was on, Ranta, Rimoczy, and Langevin, all matching strides and the crowd into it along the straightaway home stretch.

Making a bid Donzella one second off the pace.

At the line a close call for the officials, later relying on the video tape to verify what they just viewed live.

Fourth place went to Langevin at 20:01.4, fifth was Rimoczy at 20:01.8, and in sixth was Ranta at 20:02.

Donzella seventh at 20:05, eighth was Hoxhillari at 20:10, and ninth was Van Hoof at 20:14.

Markavich grabbed tenth at 20:27.

Biggs (77) came across the line at 24:00 and Gbadamassi (115) came in at 28:15.

In the final team standings, with the low point wins scoring system it was Mercy in first with 62 points.

In second was Woodstock with 135 points and in third place was Daniel Hand with 140 points.

Up next for the Bulldogs at New Fairfield on Tuesday October 13th, at 4:30, against the host Rebels, the Kolbe Cathedral Cougars, and the Newtown Nighthawks.