Avon runners bring home CCC Central White championships

The Avon High boys and girls cross country teams each won CCC Central White titles Wednesday at the CCC championship meet. (Photo courtesy Bill Stokesbury)

MANCHESTER, Oct. 21 – The first Avon program to compete in a Central Connecticut Conference championship meet brought home two pennants.

The Avon High boys and girls cross country teams each won their respective CCC Central White Division championships with strong performances Wednesday at Wickham Park at the CCC cross country championship meet.

In the overall meet, the Avon girls tuned up for next week’s CIAC championship meets by finishing fourth in the 25-team meet. The top four teams in the meet are all ranked in the top 10 of the latest state coaches poll.

No. 2 Glastonbury won the CCC championship by beating No. 1 Tolland. Both teams finished tied with 56 points but Glastonbury won the title because their sixth runner finished 29th, 38 places ahead of Tolland’s sixth place runner. No. 9 E.O. Smith beat No. 6 Avon for third place, 123 to 150.

“The girls always come through,” Avon coach Al Dadario said. “There were 10-0. There isn’t much more you can ask for than that in a new conference. We were in with the heavy hitters but we held our own.”

Avon (5-0, 5-0 CCC Central White) earned one point for every CCC Central White team they beat in the dual meet portion of the schedule and another point for every CCC Central White team they beat at the league championship meet.

Sophomore Rachel Martin led the Falcons by finishing 14th in 20:27.20 over the 3.1 mile course with senior Ryley Higgins taking 15th place in 20:27.42. Third for Avon was Sara Leavens in 23rd place in 20:53.74. Gabriella Colleti (50, 22:00.99) and Christina Martin (52, 22:01.39) rounded out the top five.

It’s the fourth league championship trophy in five years for the Falcons. Avon won the NCCC championship from 2011-13.

The Falcons have their eyes on winning a second straight Class MM state championship next Saturday at Wickham Park. Glastonbury is in Class LL, Tolland is in Class M and E.O. Smith is in Class L. Branford, Guilford and New Fairfield look to challenge Avon for the championship.

“They are really determined to be state champions,” Dadario said. “If the girls continue to run the way they’ve been running (the opportunity is there to win). We’re pretty deep.”

The Avon boys won their first conference championship of any kind since winning the Northwest Conference championship in 1984. Senior Andrew Suter led the Falcons by taking 15th place in 17:17.94 with junior Jonathan Hernandez in 28th place in 17:49.27. Zach Bortoff (58, 18:22.60), Jack Stokesbury (62, 18:28.73) and Andrew Mascoli (101, 19:05.50) rounded out the top five for the Falcons.

“The guys were most excited that all seven made all conference,” Avon boys coach C.J. Fusco said. The top 11 finishers in each division earn All-Conference honors. In the CCC White Central race, Suter was second, Hernandez was third, Bortoff was fourth, Stokesbury took fifth, Mascoli was ninth, Nyklicek was 10th and Lancaster was 11th.

The boys are looking forward to next week’s Class M championship meet. A year ago, Avon was second behind E.O. Smith. This year, E.O. Smith and Guilford will be contenders along with Avon for the title. E.O. Smith was eighth overall in the CCC race Wednesday, one spot ahead of the Falcons.

“Every time we race, we get a little closer to them,” Fusco said. “It’s good to have a goal.”

All seven of Avon’s girls also earned All-Conference honors. They were seven of the first nine runners from the CCC Central White division to cross the finish line.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
CCC Championships
At Manchester
Team results – 1. Glastonbury 56 (wins with sixth man), 2. Tolland 56, 3. E.O. Smith 123, 4. Avon 150
Individual results – 1. Katherine Deloreto, Tolland 19:06.29 over 3.1 miles at Wickham Park, 2. Hayley Collins, Tolland, 19:38, 3. Jody DiCicco, Berlin 19:45, 4. Gaelyn Kattman, Glastonbury 20:03, 5. Kaylee Stebbins, Glastonbury 20:05
Avon runners – 14. Rachel Martin 20:27.20, 15. Ryley Higgins 20:27.42, 23. Sara Leavens 20:53.74, 50. Gabriella Colletti, 22:00, 52. Christina Martin 22:01, 57. Ashley Martin 22:10, 67. Caroline Luby 22:32
Divisional results
Central Blue: Glastonbury 22, Conard 65, Southington 66, Simsbury 73, Hall 150
Central White: Avon 18, NW Catholic 61, Windsor 72, Farmington 93
North Blue: South Windsor 27, Manchester 46, East Catholic 53
North White: Tolland 19, E.O. Smith 37, RHAM 81, Rockville 111, Bloomfield 127
South Blue: Wethersfield 43, Bristol Central 45, Newington 82
South White: Berlin 20, Plainville 61, Rocky Hill 66, Middletown 83

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
CCC Championships
At Manchester
Team results – 1. Glastonbury 57, 2. East Catholic 143, 3. Manchester 155, 4. Tolland 158 (won sixth man tiebreaker), 5. Simsbury 158, 6. Southington 172, 7. Hall 178, 8. E.O. Smith 203, 9. Avon 264, 10. Rocky Hill 274, 11. Wethersfield 277, 12. Berlin 325, 13. Bristol Central 333, 14. Middletown 334, 15. Newington 344, 16. South Windsor 348, 17. RHAM 476, 18. Windsor 503, 19. Conard 546, 20. NW Catholic 601, 21. Maloney 649, 22. Plainville 660, 23. Bristol Eastern 674, 24. Bulkeley 712, 25. Farmington 778, 26. East Hartford 787, 27. Platt High 809, 28. Fermi 838, 29. Bloomfield 889, 30. Rockville 949
Individual results – 1. Randy Neish, Glastonbury, 16:25.30, 2. Michael Stoker, South Windsor 16:31, 3. Patrick Briody, E.O. Smith, 16:33. 4. Sean Garrison, Southington 16:48, 5. Chris Reeves, Glastonbury 16:54.06
Avon results – 15. Andrew Suter 17:17, 28. Jonathan Hernandez 17:49, 58. Zach Bortoff 18:22, 62. Jack Stokesbury 18:28, 101. Andrew Mascoli 19:05, 104. Matt Nyklicek 19:07, 108. Brian Lancaster 19:10
Divisional results
Central Blue: Glastonbury 25, Simsbury 65, Southington 66, Hall 68, Conard 146
Central White: Avon 23, Windsor 62, NW Catholic 68, Bulkeley 101, Farmington 118
North Blue: East Catholic 31, Manchester 34, South Windsor 61, East Hartford 115
North White: Tolland 23, E.O. Smith 34, RHAM 72, Bloomfield 136, Fermi 141, Rockville 160
South Blue: Wethersfield 37, Newington 43, Bristol Central 46, Bristol Eastern 106
South White: Rocky Hill 40, Berlin 48, Middletown 49, Plainville 119, Maloney 120, Platt High 160