Connect with us

Canton

Canton girls 2nd at NCCC championships; Boys run well and take 4th

Eight runners from Canton earned All-NCCC honors Saturday at the league championship by finishing in the top 15.

Eight runners from Canton earned All-NCCC honors Saturday at the league championship by finishing in the top 15.

WINDSOR LOCKS, Oct. 24 – It’s not about quantity with the Canton High girls cross country team. It’s quality.

There are just seven runners on coach Tim O’Donnell’s varsity team. The margin for error is nil.

But the Warriors are doing very nicely. With five runners earning All-NCCC honors Saturday, Canton (11-1) finished second at the NCCC championship meet behind league champion Suffield, 39-54.

Emily Briggs finished second in 19:47 over the 3.1 mile course at Windsor Locks High School, just 16 seconds behind Somers’ league champion Ava Roche. It’s the best finish by a Canton girl at the NCCC championships since Kim Powell took second in 2006.

Canton's Emily Briggs (84) and Abby Briggs (81) work for position in Saturday's NCCC championship race in WIndsor Locks. Emily Briggs finished second. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

Canton’s Emily Briggs (84) and Abby Briggs (81) work for position in Saturday’s NCCC championship race in WIndsor Locks. Emily Briggs finished second. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

Canton teammate Abby Briggs finished 10th in 20:26 while Belle Magna (13, 20:40), Cameron McCauley (14, 20:43) and Helena Winkler (15, 20:46) all earned All-NCCC honors that was awarded to the top 15 runners in the race.

It’s the lowest score that Canton has ever achieved at the NCCC championship meet and the best finish at the meet for Canton since 2005 and 2004 when the Warriors finished second both seasons.

“They ran well,” Canton coach Tim O’Donnell said. “I think they could have run better but we don’t have a lot of experience.” Only three runners – Emily Briggs, Jocelyn Rossitto and Lindsay LaClair – ran on the team last year.

“It was a pretty fast start. But they were smart and didn’t go (with the lead pack),” O’Donnell said. “They were cautious, which was good. They ran good races.”

It’s a good sign for the Canton girls, who will compete in next week’s CIAC Class SS championship meet at Wickham Park in Manchester. The Warriors will be looking for its first state championship since 1976 when they won the Class S championship.

The top three teams at last year’s Class SS championship meet return veteran squads. Defending champion Coginchaug, runnerup Haddam-Killingworth and third place Old Saybrook have a majority of their runners back on the team. Haddam-Killingworth has six runners back with Coginchaug returning four.

HK beat Coginchaug earlier this week at the Shoreline Conference championships, 41-58 with Old Saybrook taking third.

“If we run better than we did Saturday, we could win it,” O’Donnell said. “If run the same as we did Saturday, we may win it. They’ll be in there. No one really knows.”

Canton's Jake Whittingslow (93) finished fifth in the NCCC championship race to earn All-NCCC honors for the third year.

Canton’s Jake Whittingslow (93) finished fifth in the NCCC championship race to earn All-NCCC honors for the third year. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

The Canton boys (9-3) finished fourth, sparked by Jake Whittingslow, who finished fifth overall in 16:41. Whittingslow, Ethan Porter (11th, 17:22) and Zachary Oliver (14th, 17:39) earned All-NCCC honors by finishing in the top 15.

Whittingslow became the fifth Canton runner to earn All-NCCC honors for the fifth time in his career. Jon Cahill, Chris Bussiere, Chris Bradley also earned All-NCCC three times while Brian Magna earned all-conference honors four times.

Led by league champion David Clavet who beat teammate Thomas Arbeiter by six seconds, Ellington won its fourth straight NCCC championship. The Purple Knights won the championship meet with a 48-66 win over Bolton. Suffield was third with 76 points followed by Canton with 92.

It was one of Canton’s better performances of the season. The Warriors lost to Granby earlier in the season but beat them handily on Saturday.

The Warriors will compete in the Class SS race next Saturday. Haddam-Killingworth, Coginchaug, Old Saybrook and East Hampton from the Shoreline Conference look to be the contenders for the top two spots. HK is the favorite.

Granby, led by Zach Ziemnicki in 17th place (17:49), finished sixth at the NCCC championship meet.

NCCC Championships
BOYS
At Windsor Locks

Team results: 1. Ellington, 48; 2. Bolton, 66; 3. Suffield, 76; 4. Canton, 92; 5. Granby, 129; 6. Somers, 158; 7. Enfield, 183; 8. Stafford, 226; 9. Coventry, 268; 10. East Granby, 270; 11. East Windsor, 308; 12. Windsor Locks, 326; 13. Hartford Classical, 329
Individual results: 1. David Clavet, Ellington, 16:24 for 3.1 miles at Windsor Locks; 2. Thomas Arbeiter, Ellington, 16:30; 3. Chris Cassello, Bolton, 16:33; 4. Justin Walch, Suffield, 16:36; 5. Jake Whittingslow, Canton, 16:41; 6. Connor Ratte, Coventry, 17:00; 7. Connor Shannahan, Enfield, 17:08; 8. Scott Fisher, Bolton, 17:11; 9. Kyle Fitzgerald, Ellington, 17:15; 10. Ryan Cleaves, Suffield, 17:15; 11. Ethan Porter, Canton, 17:22; 12. Cameron Scott, Somers, 17:35; 13. Sean Eaton-Robb, Bolton, 17:36; 14. Zachary Oliver, Canton, 17:39; 15. Kyle Englander, Suffield, 17:39.
Other Canton runners: 27. Cameron Neeley 18:14, 35. Matt Sullivan 18:38, 41. Nicholas Lagonigro 19:11, 58. Trent Sawtelle 20:13
Granby runners: 17. Zach Ziemnicki 17:49, 21. William Rice 17:55, 32. Anthony Spica 18:31, 33. Brendan Sayers 18:32, 46. Michael Spence 19:21, 51. Blake Windham 19:45
East Granby runners: 39. Nate Orkney 18:53, 43. Jonathan Kelly 19:17, 61. Justin Lacharite 20:24, 62. Jack Tubridy 20:28, 65. Jason Marin 20:50, 69. Dillon Silkey 21:15, 74. Zach Fiore 21:51

GIRLS
At Windsor Locks
Team results: 1. Suffield, 39; 2. Canton, 54; 3. Ellington, 72; 4. Bolton, 117; 5. Granby, 124; 6. Somers, 146; 7. Stafford, 151; 8. East Granby, 220; 9. Windsor Locks, 260.

Individual results: 1. Ava Roche, Somers, 19:31 for 3.1 miles at Windsor Locks; 2. Emily Briggs, Canton, 19:47; 3. Deana Pileika, Suffield, 19:49; 4. Hanna Englander, Suffield, 20:08; 5. Lia Guerette, Ellington, 20:11; 6. Anna Chamberland, Ellington, 20:21; 7. Nina Begley, Suffield, 20:24; 8. Molly Caruso, Bolton, 20:24; 9. Katie Baker, Suffield, 20:24; 10. Abigail Briggs, Canton, 20:26; 11. Rachel Gallison, Stafford, 20:29; 12. Saylee Missell, Stafford, 20:31; 13. Belle Magna, Canton, 20:40; 14. Cameron McCauley, Canton, 20:43; 15. Helena Winkler, Canton, 20:46.
Other Canton runners: 40. Jocelyn Rossitto 22:10; 49. Lindsay LaClair 24:06
Granby runners: 21. Erin Gilhooly 21:17, 23. Amy Briggs 21:18, 24. Anna Clonts 21:20, 27. Emily Sheahan 21:34, 32. Bailee Kendrick 21:51, 34. Kennedy Baggott 21:53, 36. Hannah-McCay Schoaf 21:54
East Granby runners: 26. Allie Davis 21:22, 54. Emily Frascona 25:24, 55. Rachel Griffin 25:50, 56. Kylie Geer 25:55, 58. Olivia Hoerle 26:57, 59. Megan Hacia 27:00, 65. Haley Comstock 30:59

Final league standings
2015 NCCC Boys Cross Country
Team                Dual      Meet   Total

Ellington          12-0      12         24
Suffield            11-1      10         21
Bolton              9-3        11        20
Canton            9-3        9           18
Granby            9-3        8           17
Somers            7-5       7           14
Enfield             6-6        6           12
Coventry         5-7         4           9
Stafford           4-8         5           9
East Granby   3-9          3           6
East Windsor  2-10        2          4
Windsor Locks 1-11      1           1
Classical          0-12      0           0
Teams earn 1 point for each dual meet win and 1 point for each team they beat at the league championship meet.

2015 NCCC Girls Cross Country
Team                Dual      Meet   Total

Suffield             12-0      12         24
Canton            11-1       11         22
Ellington          10-2       10         20
Bolton                9-3        9         18
Granby              7-5        8         15
Somers              7-5       7         14
Stafford              5-7      6          11
Windsor Locks   4-8      4           8
East Granby      3-9      5           8
Coventry           5-6      0           5
Classical           3-9      0           3
Windsor Locks  0-10    0           0
Enfield              0-11    0           0
Teams earn 1 point for each dual meet win and 1 point for each team they beat at the league championship meet.

 

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 30 years.

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Canton