Newtown girls cross country slips past Avon to win Winding Trails Invitational

FARMINGTON, Sept. 24 – It was all decided in a few seconds at the fifth annual Winding Trails Invitational Saturday. The Avon and Newtown girls cross country teams were battling it out for the Large Division championship.

In a span of nine seconds, eight runners came across the finish line and in the end, it was Newtown with a slim 38-43 decision over Avon in the Large Division race.

Avon’s Christina Martin (20:16) and Sara Leavens (20:17) finished ninth and tenth, respectively. But Newtown’s Madison Findley (20:17, 11th) and Camille Johnson (20:18, 12th) were able to slip in front of Avon’s Rachel Martin (20:19, 13th). Avon’s Caroline Luby (20:21, 15) beat Newtown’s Lauren Russo (20:22, 16) by a second but it wasn’t enough.

Newtown, which beat Avon by 14 points last year for the Large Division crown, was also buoyed by Olivia Hage (19:45) and Erin Tressler (19:47), who finished third and fourth, respectively. Avon was led by Emily Foley (20:06), who finished sixth.

Zach Bortoff led the Avon boys to a sixth place finish in the Large Division race, finishing second with a time of 16:37 over 3 miles at Winding Trails– the fastest time ever for an Avon runner in the race. New Canaan’s Max Koschnitzke won the race in 16:26. Avon’s Jon Hernandez finished 20th with a time of 17:16.

Avon’s Rachel Nori, Anna Ryan and Rhiannon Richmond were the top three finishers in the girls junior varsity race with times of 21:47, 22:00 and 22:23, respectively.

Winding Trails Invitational
At Farmington
LARGE SCHOOL BOYS
Team results: 1. Newtown, 55; 2. New Canaan, 71; 3. Weston, 83; 4. Middletown, 100; 5. Foran, 126; 6. Avon, 129; 7. Berlin, 181; 8. Law, 260; 9. New Milford, 264; 10. Cheshire, 276; 11. Enfield, 286; 12. Bunnell, 322; 13. Farmington, 359; 14. Windsor, 368; 15. Simsbury, 392.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Max Koschnitzke, New Canaan, 16:26 for 3.0 miles at Winding Trails; 2. Zach Bortoff, Avon, 16:37; 3. Stephen Tyler, Weston, 16:43; 4. Joel Duval, Newtown, 16:44; 5. Michael St. George, New Canaan, 16:45; 6. Alexander Leo, Weston, 16:46; 7. Jack Ardrey, Foran, 16:47; 8. Brenden Reeds, Newtown, 16:48; 9. Ryan Escoda, Newtown, 16:49; 10. Christian Lestik, Newtown, 16:53
Other Avon runners: 20. Jon Hernandez 17:16, 32. Jack Stokesbury 17:54, 35. Andrew Mascoli 18:00, 40. Ian Albreski 18:07, 41. Jack Schmittlein 18:08, 50. Brian Lancaster 18:23
LARGE SCHOOL GIRLS
Team results: 1. Newtown, 38; 2. Avon, 43; 3. Cheshire, 65; 4. Hand, 143; 5. New Milford, 159; 6. Lauralton Hall, 175; 7. Middletown, 179; 8. East Lyme, 193; 9. Berlin, 224; 10. Farmington, 280; 11. Law, 293; 12. Bunnell, 332.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Lauren Daddi, Cheshire, 19:09 for 3.0 miles at Winding Trails; 2. Brittney Brown, Windsor, 19:36; 3. Olivia Hage, Newtown, 19:45; 4. Erin Tressler, Newtown, 19:57; 5. Sydney Nash, Enfield, 20:01; 6. Emily Foley, Avon, 20:06; 7. Ariana Monarca, Middletown, 20:07; 8. Rasa Kirvelevicius, East Lyme, 20:13; 9. Christina Martin, Avon, 20:16; 10. Sara Leavens, Avon, 20:17
Other Avon runners: 13. Rachel Martin 20:19, 15. Caroline Luby 20:21, 28. Christine Oberhausen 21:17, 40. Ashley Martin 21:39

SMALL SCHOOL BOYS
Team results: 1. Suffield, 47; Northwestern Regional, 64; 3. Lyman Memorial, 95; 4. Shepaug, 99; 5. Lewis Mills, 128; 6. Nonnewaug, 142; 7. Cromwell, 190; 8. Northwest Catholic, 194; 9. North Branford, 241; 10. St. Bernard, 293; 11. Gilbert, 293.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Sean Parker, Shepaug, 15:48 for 3.0 miles at Winding Trails; 2. Gavin Woodward, Northwestern, 16:25; 3. Joshua Cardinal, Lyman Memorial, 16:49; 4. Dylan Geissinger-Tuttle, Nonnewaug, 16:50; 5. Nick Sinofsky, Suffield, 16:55; 6. Connor Spencer, Northwestern, 16:57; 7. Kyle Englander, Suffield, 17:04; 8. Silas Olsen, Lyman Memorial, 17:05; 9. Chandler Weatherbee, Shepaug, 17:07; 10. Ryan Cleaves, Suffield, 17:13.
SMALL SCHOOL GIRLS
Team results: 1. Nonnewaug, 63; 2. St. Bernard, 90; 3. Weston, 102; 4. Shepaug, 126; 5. Lewis Mills, 141; 6. Suffield, 161; 7. Northwest Catholic, 172; 8. Lyman Memorial, 191; 9. Bloomfield, 196; 10. Northwestern Regional, 205; 11. St. Joseph, 253.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Kathryn Shea, Northwest Catholic, 19:38 for 3.0 miles at Winding Trails; 2. Ellen Arvidson, St. Bernard, 20:08; 3. Helene Berger, Nonnewaug, 20:17; 4. Hanna Englander, Suffield, 20:25; 5. Jahlyssa Blackwin, Bloomfield, 20:33; 6. Christina Gubette, Northwestern, 20:37; 7. Allison Moore, Lewis Mills, 20:51; 8. Lauren Bresson, Shepaug, 20:52; 9. Carly Andrew, Nonnewaug, 20:53; 10. Karissa Stanio, Suffield, 21:01.

2016 Winding Trails Invitational, complete results