SUFFIELD, Oct. 5 – It was just one race but it sets the tone for the NCCC championship meet two weeks from now in Windsor Locks. The Avon High girls cross country turned in a gutsy performance to nip host Suffield, 27-28 and remain unbeaten at 10-0. On the boys side, Suffield ended Canton’s 38-meet NCCC winning streak with a decisive 18-40 victory.
The NCCC championship meet is Friday, Oct. 21 at Windsor Locks High School and the results of this meet leave the Avon girls and Suffield boys in the driver’s seat to win conference championships. Each team receives one point for each dual meet win in the league and one point for each team they beat at the NCCC championship meet.
Avon (10-0) is looking for its first league title since they shared it with Suffield and Granby in 2009. They beat Suffield with a balanced effort from their top five runners. Sophomore Rachael Rosow remained undefeated in dual meets with a six-second win over Suffield’s Monique Labarre.
Sophomore Sara Stokesbury outsprinted Suffield’s Liz Rigby at the end to earn a key third place finish while Molly Hamel finished fifth. Katie McIntyre took eighth while Maddie Zapataka finished strong in 10th place. Anyone of Avon’s top five slip one spot and the Falcons end up with a loss.
“I see a lot of determination,” Avon coach Al Daddario said. “They want to win. They battle every step of the way.”
Avon has one regular season meet left on next Wednesday and they will be heavily favored to sweep East Granby, Windsor Locks and host Sport Medicine Science Academy in Hartford.
In the boys race, Suffield (12-0) was savoring its first win over Canton in two years. The Wildcats had five of the top six runners in the race. Only Canton’s Jon Cahill (17:07) broke into that pack with his third place finish. Tyler Fitzpatrick and Peter LeDuc were eighth and ninth, respectively for the Warriors while Jarrett Choinaud took 13th place. But with Choinaud finishing in front of group of four Avon runners helped Canton top the Falcons, 27-30.
“It really wasn’t one of our better races,” Canton coach Bill Sarmuk said. “We were slower than we thought. We thought we had prepared them to run on a flat course but they were running on empty tanks.”
Having lost to Suffield earlier in the season at the Stratton Brook Invitational, the Warriors knew it would be a stretch to hang with Suffield. But they thought they could run faster. “We’re not disappointed,” he said. “We’re looking to peak in a few weeks.”
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Avon 27, Suffield 28
Avon 15, Canton 48
Avon 15, East Windsor 50
Suffield 15, Canton 50
Suffield 15, East Windsor 50
Canton 15, East Windsor 50
At Suffield
Winner: Rachael Rosow (A) 19:57 for 3.1 miles at Rogers Park, 2. Monique Labarre (S) 20:03, 3. Sara Stokesbury (A) 20:04; 4. Liz Rigby (S) 20:09, 5. Molly Hamel (A) 20:41, 6. Hannah Gardocki (S) 21:07, 7. Katie Ravenola (S) 21:18, 8. Katie McIntye (A) 21: 25; 9. Katelyn Carr (S) 21:39, 10. Maddie Zapatka (A) 21:41; 11. Ellen McGann (S) 21:51; 12. Gabby Rusczk (S) 21:52, 13. Sandra Looney (S) 21:53, 14. Erin Kost (S) 21:58, 15. E. Reynolds (S) 22:01
Records: Avon 10-0, Suffield 11-1, Canton 6-4, East Windsor 0-7
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Suffield 15, Avon 44
Suffield 18, Canton 40
Suffield 15, East Windsor 50
Canton 27, Avon 30
Canton 15, East Windsor 50
Avon 15, East Windsor 50
At Suffield
Winner: D.J. Labarre (S) 16:46 for 3.1 miles at Rogers Park, 2. Dan Moroney (S) 16:54; 3. Jon Cahill (C) 17:07, 4. Jimmy Clark (S) 17:37, 5. Connor Gates (S) 17:40, 6. Patrick Begley (S) 17:52, 7. Jeff Demers (A) 18:08, 8. Tyler Fitzpatrick (C) 18:11, 9. Peter LeDuc (C) 18:12, 10. Michael Oberhausen (A) 18:31, 11. Sean Deneen (A) 18:34, 12. Benjamin Gee (S) 18:37, 13. Jarrett Choinaud (C) 18:37, 14. Brendan Kirshbaum (S) 17:38, 15. Will Schoeder (A) 18:42
Records: Suffield 12-0, Canton 9-1, Avon 6-4, East Windsor 3-7
Related TopicsBoys Cross CountryGirls Cross Country
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.
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