Avon girls win 2nd straight NCCC title, Falcon boys finish 2nd

The Avon High girls cross country team won its second straight NCCC cross country championship Monday in Windsor Locks. (Tom McIntyre photo)

WINDSOR LOCKS, Oct. 22 – A year ago, the Avon High girls cross country team finished a distant second in the Class MM championship meet. Guilford easily won a record eighth straight state title but a seed was planted on that day. The Falcons learned they could compete at the state level.

This fall, Avon has been driven for another chance at a state championship meet. For the second straight year, the Falcons went undefeated (13-0) in the NCCC. They won four invitational meets and finished second in a fifth one.

But before the Falcons could run for a state championship banner, they had to compete at the NCCC championship meet. A deep Avon squad placed four runners in the top 10 and all seven of their varsity runners among the top 18 as they rolled to a 31-64 victory over Suffield. It clinched Avon’s second straight league title and their third league championship in four years.

Granby, led by Ashley Piccirillo in third place, finished fifth as a team while Canton was sixth.

On the boys side, Avon capped off its best finish at the NCCC championship meet since 1986 with a second place finish behind league champion Ellington, 53-62. The Falcons had three runners in the top eight and four among the top 14 runners. The strong finish lifted Avon to a second place finish in the league. Teams earn points for wins in the dual meet season and teams beaten at the league championship meet.

Canton, led by first-year runner Matt Demarco in 11th place, was fifth while Granby was a distant eighth.

Rachael Rosow (Tom McIntrye photo)

The Avon girls have had a dominant campaign. With their undefeated regular season, the Falcons extended their NCCC winning streak to 28 in a row. And they finished first at the Haddad Invitational in Windham, the Going to the Sun Invitational at Coginchaug, the Bellringer Invitational at East Hampton and the Nonnewaug Invitational in Woodbury.

Junior Rachael Rosow won her first individual NCCC title with a time of 19:21.3 over the 3.1 mile course at Windsor Locks. Junior Sara Stokesbury (19:56.5) was fourth followed by sophomores Molly Hamel (20:02.7) in fifth place and Madi McHugh (20:13.1) in seventh place. Freshman Ryley Higgins was in 14th place in 20:54. All four earned All-NCCC honors.

Suffield was second, followed by Ellington and Bolton. Granby was just six points behind Bolton.

“We love the competition here. It’s a great league,” Granby coach Wally Hanson said. “Avon could win Class MM. Suffield could win in M.”

Piccirillo finished third in 19:41.6 with Alexa Cipkas in 10th place at 20:20.5. Both earned All-NCCC recognition. Paige Kibby was third on the Bears in 22nd place.

“I was tremendously pleased,” Hanson said. “They ran really well and it started with Ashley. She ran a beautiful race, a smart race, a strategic race. And every girl on our varsity ran a personal record (time) today.”

In the boys race, four teams, including Avon, came into the meet with a shot to win the league title. Ellington and Bolton were each 12-1 in the league while Avon and Suffield were each 11-2. A win at the championship race would give a team the league title.

Ellington was too quick with three runners finishing in the top five. The No. 4 and No. 5 runners for the Purple Knights finished 20th and 23rd respectively; just good enough to lift Ellington to its first championship meet win since 2005.

Connor Wise (17:18.9), Michael Oberhausen (17:22.5) and Justin Alessio (17:23.9) finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. Oberhausen and Alessio made a late surge to move up into the top 10. Jeff Demers (17:43.9) took 14th to earn All-NCCC honors. Dan Innes (27th, 18:23.3) rounded out the top five for Avon.

Avon’s Justin Alessio (182), Mike Oberhausen (202) and Connor Wise (222) race in Monday’s NCCC championship race.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Avon coach Gene Macy said. “The kids improved their times all season. They understood how to train through stuff and keep hitting those personal bests. Their work ethic was great. We had to rein them in the last few weeks, they were starting to overtrain.”

Canton was a distant fifth behind Ellington, Avon, Suffield and Bolton, four teams they had lost to in the dual meet portion of the season. Demarco earned All-NCCC honors with his 11th place finish (17:27.1) while James Yost (18:04.4) finished 19th.

“They’re still learning to race,” Canton coach Tim O’Donnell said.

NOTES: Avon swept the junior varsity races as well. Hannah Fusaro and Julia deSimas finished first and second respectively in the girls race. In the boys race, Avon had six of the 11 runners led by James Grant in fifth place.

GIRLS VARSITY
Team results – 1. Avon 31, 2. Suffield 64, 3. Ellington 71, 4. Bolton 102, 5. Granby 108, 6. Canton and Coventry 202, 8. Stafford 234, 9. East Granby 253, 10. Somers 283, 11. Enfield 339
Individual results
Winner: Rachael Rosow (A) 19:21.3 for 3.1 miles at Windsor Locks, 2. Samantha Nyser (B) 19:37.2, 3. Ashley Piccirillo (G) 19:41.51, 4. Sara Stokesbury (A) 19:56.5, 5. Molly Hamel (A) 20:02.7, 6. Jennifer Hulstein (Ell) 20:10, 7. Madi McHugh (A) 20:13.1, 8. Anna Chamberland (Ell) 20:16.06, 9. Elizabeth Rigby (Suff) 20:17.97, 10. Alex7a Cipkas (G), 20:20.43, 11. Laura Sweeney (Suff) 20:22.98, 12. Hannah Gardocki (Suff) 20:31.81, 13. Nina Begley (Suff) 20:44.37, 14. Ryley Higgins (A) 20:54.0, 15, Katherine Lee (Ell) 20:56.62, 16. Kayla Sgarlata (Ell) 21:03, 17. Katie McIntyre (A) 21:08.9, 18. Kristen Goldie (A) 21:20.3, 19. Monique Labarre (Suff) 21:29.76, 20. Rachel Chamber (B) 21:31. 

Canton runners: 32. Emma Frawley 22:33.7, 35. Leigh-Ana Rossito 22:54.6, 41. Emily Jarka 24:03.1, 45. Megan Casey 24:15.8, 49. Jill Casey 25:02.4, 53. Miranda Fitzpatrick 25:26.4 

Dual meet standings: Avon 13-0, Suffield 12-1, Ellington 11-2, Bolton 10-3, Coventry 9-4, Granby 8-5, Canton 7-6, Stafford 6-7, East Granby 5-8, Somers 3-10, Enfield 3-10, Windsor Locks 1-11, East Windsor 0-11, SMSA 0-11

Final league standings: Avon 26 (13-13), Suffield 24 (12-12), Bolton 22 (11-11), Coventry 17, (9-8), Granby 8-5 (8-9), Canton 14 (7-7), Stafford 12 (6-6), East Granby 10 (5-5), Somers 7 (3-4), Enfield 6 (3-3), Windsor Locks 1 (1-0), East Windsor 0 (0-0), SMSA 0 (0-0)
Teams earn one point for each dual meet victory and one point for every team they beat at the league championship meet.

BOYS VARSITY
Team results – 1. Ellington 53, 2. Avon 62, 3. Suffield 75, 4. Bolton 98, 5. Canton 127, 6. Somers 134, 7. Coventry 181, 8. Granby 245, 9. East Granby 247, 10. East Windsor 248, 11. Stafford 340, 12. Enfield 367, 13. Windsor Locks 372
Individual results
Winner – Neal Hulstein (Ell) 16:30.50 for 3.1 miles at Windsor Locks, 2. Jimmy Clark (Suff) 16:49, 3. Patrick Begley (Suff) 17:02, 4. Jordan Dixon (Ell) 17:16, 5. Spencer Lebel (Ell) 17:17, 6. Connor Wise (A) 17:18, 7. Michael Oberhausen (A) 17:22, 8. Justin Alessio (A) 17:23, 9. Brendan Callahan (B) 17:24, 10. Alex Norstrom (Cov) 17:24, 11. Matt Demarco (Can) 17:27.03, 12. Alex Moger (EG) 17:38, 13. Cullen Roberts (Som) 17:42, 14. Jeff Demers (A) 17:43, 15. Robert Baumann (Som) 17:46, 16. Trevor Chambers (B) 17:49, 17. Harold Hennessey (B) 17:55, 18. Justin Walch (Suff) 17:56, 19. James Yost (Can) 18:04, 20. Andrew Olivia (Ell) 18:05.

Other Avon runners: 27. Dan Innes 18:23.3, 37. Jack Wendler 18:47.8, 44. Colin Pritchard 19:07.4
Other Canton runners: 25. Julian Franklin 18:19.7, 32. Dean Yost 18:31.2, 40. David Benedetti 18:52.5, 49. Jake Neeley 19:25.1, 52. Zach Oliver 19:32.2. 

Dual meet standings: Ellington 12-1, Bolton 12-1, Avon 11-2, Suffield 11-2, Canton 9-4, Somers 8-5, Coventry 7-6, Granby 6-7, East Windsor 5-8, East Granby 4-9, Stafford 3-10, Enfield 2-11, Windsor Locks 1-12, SMSA 0-13

Final league standings: Ellington 25 (12-13), Avon 23 (11-12), Bolton 22 (12-10), Suffield 22 (11-11), Canton 18 (9-9), Somers 16 (8-8), Coventry 14 (7-7), Granby 12 (6-6), East Windsor 9 (5-4), East Granby 9 (4-5), Stafford 6 (3-3), Enfield 4 (2-2), Windsor Locks 2 (1-1), SMSA 0 (0-0)
Teams earn one point for each dual meet victory and one point for every team they beat at the league championship meet. 

BOYS JV
Team results – 1. Avon 38, 2. Suffield 61, 3. Ellington 76, 4. Canton 109, 5. Bolton 119 

Avon: 5. James Grant 19:05.15, 6. David Buyse 19:06.64, 8. Eric Kirk 19:20.79, 9. Matt Reagan 19:22.42, 10. Andrew Suter 19:26.46, 11. Greg Oberhausen 19:26.88, 18. Andrew Redlund 19:50.90
Canton: 3. William Briggs 18:50.49, 20. Devin Glasson 20:01.71, 21. Jack Sullivan 20:03.65, 32. Tyler Steers 20:34.40, 33. Ryan Pickett 20:38.73, 34. Matt Sullivan 20:41.87, 35. Evan Rexford 20:44.66 

GIRLS JV
Team results – 1. Avon 21, 2. Suffield 34, 3. Ellington 86, 4. Bolton 114, 5. Granby 112 

Avon: 1, Hannah Fusaro 21:41.9, 2. Julia deSimas 22:01.7, 4. Abigail Welsh 22:25.8, 6. Madison Zapatka  22:35.6, 8. Hannah Carpino 23:16.9, 11. Heather Howes 23:43.3, 21. Ellena Gressier 24:47.3

2012 NCCC cross country championship meet results