Local Runners Fare Well at Wickham Invitational

It was a sea of running humanity, with nearly 4,000 athletes from four New England states tackling “The Green Monster” - the large, steep slope at Wickham Park in Manchester - in the Wickham Invitational, the region’s largest scholastic cross country meet.

When all was said and done, two area teams had posted victories and other squads and individuals had posted impressive showings.

Tolland High School continued its domination of girls cross country, compiling 54 points to win the girls championship race by a comfortable margin over runnerup Glastonbury.

Katherine Deloreto was the overall race winner, completing the difficult 3.1 mile course in 18:45, 18 seconds ahead of Mackenzie Pias of Mercy. Caitlin Swanson (4th), Michaela Caron (8th) and Hayley Collins (10th) also finished in the top 10 for the Eagles, who are seeking their third consecutive State Open championship and fifth straight Class M title.

The Tolland boys also ran well, placing fifth of 33 teams in the boys seeded race. Josh Bedard placed 12th in the 231-runner field, while Ethan Davis (39th) and Stephen Sutton (48th) also placed in the top 50.

Tolland’s program should remain successful for years to come, due to the fine efforts of its middle school runners. Both the boys and girls teams placed second in the middle school races, which covered a 1.86 mile course.

The boys were led by Alec Sauter (5th), Luke Stoeffler (7th) and Nathan Paolangeli (9th), while the girls were paced by Peyton Bornstein (12th), Mallory Krasusky (22nd) and Fiona Crowley (23rd).

Manchester’s boys team won the seeded race, edging Guilford by just two points. Brian Coyne led the way by finishing seventh, while Thomas Kropp (34th), Joe Pearl (37th) and Tim Rowe (46th) also made the top 50.

The Indian girls team wound up 10th of 31 teams, led by Rachael Suhie (35th).

East Catholic placed fourth of 70 teams in the boys unseeded race, with strong performances by Evan Kennedy (16th) and Zach Hess (34th) in the day’s largest field - 486 competitors.

Rockville received nice outings from Chelsea Chatterton (29th) and Kyleigh Percy (43rd) in the 369-runner girls unseeded event.

Click here for complete results from all 15 races, including JV, freshman and middle school.

Photo credit: Google Maps