Stratford's Asuncion Marches on at Bethel in Unexpected Venue Change

On Tuesday October 10th the Stratford High School Boys Cross Country team traveled to Bethel High School to go up against the Wildcats and the New Fairfield Rebels in South West Conference cross country racing.

The SWC meet was originally scheduled to be held in New Fairfield but New Fairfield officials deemed their course unsafe due to recent heavy rains. The move to Bethel was made on Tuesday morning.

Anyone who knows the course in Bethel knows that it serves as the South West Conference Championship cross country course and is billed as the toughest course in the conference. It receives that distinction based on the famed hill named “The “Beast”.

It is also named the Mark Goodwin Cross Country Course based on the many years of dedicated service Mark Goodwin provided to Bethel High School.

To most, the course appears to be a vision of brilliance, as the backdrop view from the bleachers of all the surrounding fall colored trees and hilltops, provides stunning pictures.
To the runners, a different opinion comes into play as the course is multi-surfaced with its brand new stadium turf at the start, areas of asphalt, and its trail terrain of changing ground angles. All of which lead up to a one-half mile long steep hill known by many as " The Beast" at nearly the mile and three quarter mark. Even the most elite runners struggle with their times.

This afternoon saw dark building clouds to start, temperatures in the low 60’s, no wind, and damp but manageable ground conditions.

By the race's end the sun was brightly shining.

Legendary race starter Gene Waring gave the runners some final instructions, sounded the opening blast, and the race was on.

Several Bethel runners led the charge out of the box. Mixed in was Stratford’s Dyllan Asuncion.
Asuncion, a Freshman, has enjoyed a very successful start to his career and kept pace with the leaders.

Leading the pack and pulling away early on was Bethel’s Evan Bureau. At numerous points in the race he was enjoying a minute plus lead.

His teammate Aiden Cullinan was next followed by Asuncion. Then it was Bethel’s Anthony Alves and Dan Cirella followed by New Fairfield’s Cooper Piesco and Carrington Flynn.

After that the next seven runners were from Bethel.

The question would become how would the top tier runners in this race fare after ascending up “The Beast”. “The Beast” is roughly at the two mile marker. After completing the hill runners would circle around the greens in front of the school and head back down “The Beast” and race towards the finish line which is also the finish line on the rubberized track.

It was clear that Bureau had a commanding one minute twenty second lead and would finish in the top spot. Bureau crossed the line in a time of 17:06.

Cullinan also had a sizable lead and would finish second with a time of 18:33.

The battle for third was on and it was between Asuncion and Alves. This one was going to go down to the wire.

Asuncion was out in front of a hard charging Alves, Alves had the home course location knowledge of how much distance was left.

As both runners headed down the back stretch of the outer perimeter, located adjacent to a one sided wooded trail, Alves made his move around Asuncion with one-quarter mile to go.

Asuncion wasn’t done yet and he was also on pace to his best time in his short racing career. Both runners advanced to the last one hundred meters on the track. At the finish line it was Alves by half a stride in a time of 18:41.15.

Asuncion took fourth place in a time of 18:42.01. His finish was a personal best.

Both of these runners shook hands and congratulated each other.

Asuncion continues to answer the question of “ Who is this kid from Stratford”. His racing prowess with each meet has also answered the same question.

Back at the finish line it was Bethel’s Cirella and YiJun Ng matching strides as they crossed the line.

With Ng’s finish he gave Bethel a meet sweep with two team wins.

Cirella was given the nod with a time of 18:52. Ng was sixth in an identical time of 18:52.

In seventh, New Fairfield’s Piesco with a time of 18:54.

For the eighth spot , it was another close call between New Fairfield’s Flynn and Bethel’s Caden Fitzgerald. Both raced across in a tight one.

Race officials discussed what they saw and gave Flynn the decision in a time of 18:59. 35

In ninth, Bethel’s Fitzgerald with a time of 18:59.68.

Rounding out the top ten was Bethel’s Calum Binder in a time of 19:33.

Heading up the Stratford finishers was Senior Kent Taylor. This is Kent Taylor’s second season and today it became his personal best time as he raced to a time of 21:59.

Today also saw the debut of Irie Mitton. Mitton started out as a Manager for the Stratford team. He worked his way up to competition level and crossed the finish line with an impressive time of 24:24.

Max Lilya was the next Stratford finisher and finished in a time of 25:40. Jace Taylor was next at 26:54 followed by Dante Dawes at 32:00. Papa Insaidoo completed the Stratford finishers with a time of 37:10.

Final scores on the afternoon saw Bethel over Stratford 17-46, Bethel over New Fairfield 15-46 and New Fairfield over Stratford 20-41.

Up next for Stratford, at the historic Eisenhower Park in Milford, on Friday October 13th, against Jonathan Law, Platt Tech, and West Haven High Schools.