Stratford and Bunnell Cross Country Teams Get Together Once Again

The annual Stratford High School and Bunnell High School boys and girls cross country scrimmage race took place on Thursday afternoon, September 8th on the illustrious grounds of Wooster Middle School where the campus is transformed into a 5 meter cross country race extravaganza.

Be it a scrimmage or regular season when these two teams meet up you can expect a high spirited venue.

The now annual event serves as a kick off to each season in preparation for their official record keeping meets where both schools compete in the highly competitive South West Conference.

Prior to the start of the scrimmage is the traditional exchange of pleasantries where each athlete greets each other with well wishes for the approaching season.

A look at each team sees a mix of veteran runners and new runners.

For the Stratford girls Lauren Ogrodowicz will be the pacesetter followed by first year runner Kootner St. Pread and Sophomore Emma Petrie.

The Bunnell girls see Seniors Jocelyn Ciotti, Paige Jockers, and Dannah Urban as their go to runners. But you can bet veteran Coach Jim Stein will come up with some over-achievers in the form of first year performers Mia Skartsiaris and Sophia Vierra.

The Bunnell boys are led by the ever improving Ben Laros. Laros is now in his junior year and has come a long way since his freshman year. Last season he served as Captain of the team as a sophomore and will hold the title again this season. Coach Barb Poisson has credited Laros with forming a strong cross country culture within this young bunch.

Another up and coming runner for the Bunnell Boys is Sophomore Alex Vaquerano. He has made strong gains ever since donning the Bulldog uniform be it on the 5K course or on the track. Also coming on strong are Juniors Chris Graham and Gustavo Oliva. Oliva is looking to follow in the footsteps of his cousin Mario. Mario ( BHS class of 2021) enjoyed a stellar cross country career.

For the Stratford boys, the accolades for Senior Amos Colocho in 2021 are now part of his resume. Wherever Stratford went last year Colocho oohed and aahed the crowds with his smooth powerful strides. Stratford hasn’t had a runner like Colocho since All-Stater Mike Petillo (SHS 2015) way back in 2015.

Colocho finished in the top thirty-five in the State of Connecticut in 2021 and has some unfinished business when the CIAC playoffs take place later this season.

Colocho will have fellow Senior Ryan Munoz by his side to manage an extremely young team behind them in hopes of leaving a legacy for the youngsters to follow. Munoz now in his fourth and final year has progressed each year and is looking for a breakout final year.

Both will serve as Captains for the 2022 season.

After that it will be returning runners Raiyan Khursu and Papa Insaidoo. Another year under their belts will serve both well now in their Sophomore years.

The roster completes itself with four first year runners. Both Kent and Jace Taylor have shown signs of development in the early season training weeks. Also putting in the miles are Matthew Kleszczewski and Maxwell Lilya.

With the preseason preview now complete it was time to head to the starting line for the afternoon’s main event.

The race saw crystal clear sunny skies, temperatures in the 70’s, low dew point, low humidity, fast and flat course conditions, and the end of summer feeling in the air.

As the whistle sounded the field of thirty-three took off with Colocho in the lead. He maintained a pick-em up and put them down pace and increased his lead as the race went on.

The cluster of runners saw Munoz, Laros, Graham, Vaquerano, and Oliva staying within range of each other in the early going on the boys side.

The girls side saw Ciotti, Jockers, and Urban dominating. These veteran runners out paced the field of girls by several minutes.

Ogrodowicz led the Stratford girls. Showing gains for the Stratford girls was St. Pread.

The race also had many onlookers on hand as the residents in the area checked in to see some fierce competition taking place.

Colocho easily placed first with a time of 18:17.

What a race by Laros and Munoz throughout. Both were in front of each other at numerous times. Also Graham and Oliva need to be mentioned as they dashed in their final moments.

But first Laros and Munoz battled with Laros in front nearing the last four hundred meters. With fifty meters left Munoz got out in front to stay. Munoz placed second at 19:14 with Laros in at 19:15 for third place.

Vaquerano took fourth at 20:11.

The next top five photo finish saw Graham and Oliva separated by hundredths of a second with Graham in at 21:24.35 and Oliva fifth at 21:24.81.

The girls finishers saw Ciotti in first at 23:12 with Jockers second at 23:37. Urban was third at 24:19.

Skartsiaris was fourth at 27:14 and Vierra fifth at 28:45.

Ogrodowicz finished in a time of 31:28.

Up next for Stratford, the season opener at New Fairfield High School on Tuesday September 13th, 4:00pm against the Rebels, the New Milford Greenwave, and the Kolbe Cathedral Cougars.

Up next for Bunnell, at Great Hollow Lake Field in Monroe against the Masuk Panthers and the Bethel Wildcats on Tuesday, September 13th at 5:00pm.

The below video is a taste of what the 2022 season will look like as the crowd and teammates cheer on Ben Laros and Ryan Munoz with this finish. Both are friends off the field but in competition, the video says it all.