Avon girls race to 2 titles in 2 days; Canton runners compete in crowded field

On Friday, the No. 9 Avon High girls cross country team won the Nonnewaug Invitational for the fifth in six years. A day later, they also won the Hale Ray Invitational. (Photo courtesy Bill Stokesbury)

MOODUS, Oct. 1 – It was a busy two days for the No. 9 Avon High girls cross country team. On Friday, the Falcons won the Nonnewaug Invitational in Woodbury for the fifth time in the last six years with a 25-43 victory over Cheshire.

On Saturday, the Falcons were in Moodus were they put six runners among the top 11 to capture the six-team Hale Ray Invitational for the second consecutive season with a 26-56 victory over Lauralton Hall.

The Avon High boys cross country team finished third at the 58th Nonnewaug Invitational on Friday, led by senior Zach Bortoff, who was fifth with a team-best time of 16:51.

The Canton High boys and girls cross country teams swept a three-team meet with Hartford Classical and Somers on Wednesday and ran on Saturday at the Festival of Champions in Belfast, Maine. Max Sparks led the Warriors with a 23rd place finish in a race that featured 868 runners — a huge number for a high school race. The largest race in Connecticut is generally the State Open in November with around 200 runners.

It had been a week since the Avon team had competed since Tuesday’s CCC dual meet with Weaver was cancelled because the Beavers don’t have enough runners for a team. The Avon girls placed five runners in the top 10 to beat Cheshire, which had three runners in the top 10.

Junior Emily Foley led the way for the Falcons by finishing second overall in the 3.1-mile race with a time of 19:53. Cheshire’s Lauren Daddio won the race in 19:27.2.

Foley became the fourth Avon runner to finish second in the race in the last eight years joining Molly Hamel (2014), Rachael Rosow (2011) and Claire Smith (2008, 2009). Rosow won the race in 2012 while Maddi McHugh won in 2013.

Senior Christina Martin was third for Avon at the Nonnewaug Invitational in 20:09, followed by Rachel Martin (5, 20:18), Caroline Luby (6, 20:20) and Sara Leavens (9, 20:33).

Among the boys, Bortoff led Avon to a third place finish in the race with 109 points. It was Avon’s best finish since taking third in 2013. New Milford easily beat Cheshire, 35-70 to win the championship.

Jon Hernandez (16, 17:29), Jack Stokesbury (21, 17:37), Andrew Mascoli (32, 18:01) and Ian Albreski (36, 18:16) rounded out the top five for the Falcons. Jack Schmittlein (38, 18:21) and Brian Lancaster (40, 18:27) were not far behind.

In the junior varsity races, Avon’s Sam Johnson won the boys JV race in 18:55 while Avon’s Rhiannon Richmond won the girls JV race in 22:07.

On Saturday at the Hale Ray Invitational, Foley again led the Falcons with a second place finish in 20:51 over the 3.1 mile course. Hale Ray’s Emily Sienna won the race in 19:09.

The Falcons had Christina Martin (3, 21:07), Luby (5, 21:27), Leavens (7, 21:31) and Rachel Martin (9, 21:41) in the top 10 with Ashley Martin (11, 21:59) and Christine Oberhausen (13, 22:32) right there as well.

Both Avon teams will host their first home races of the season on Tuesday at Fisher Meadows when they face Northwest Catholic at 4 p.m., before traveling to the Wickham Park Invitational in Manchester on Saturday.

Canton traveled to Maine Saturday to compete in monster races at the Festival of Champions. The boys varsity race had 868 finishers while the girls race had 654 runners cross the finish line.

Sparks led the Canton boys with his 23rd place finish in 16:44.54 over the crowded 3.1 mile course. Peter Royer was second for the Warriors in 187th place in 18:46 followed by Trent Sawtelle (207, 18:53). Andy Obrzut (285, 19:23), Nick Lagonigro (373, 19:50), Sean Richard (399, 19:59) and Alex Lederman (482, 20:29) rounded out Canton’s top seven runners.

Canton finished 30th among 61 teams in the boys race.

In the girls race, Canton finished 12th led by Emily Briggs, who was 56th in 20:36. Belle Magna (88, 21:06) and Helena Winkler (100, 21:16) broke the top 100 for the Warriors. Abby Briggs (129, 21:40), Cameron McCauley (150, 21:52), Jocelyn Rositto (232, 23:00) and Lindsay LaClair (266, 24:47) rounded out the top seven runners for the Warriors.

Both Canton teams return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Bolton for a three-team meet with Granby.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Canton 24, Somers 34
Canton 15, Hartford Classical 50
Somers 15, Hartford Classical 50
At West Hartford
Individual results – 1. Max Sparks (C) 18:04 for 3.1 miles at Elizabeth Park in West Hartford, 2. J. Palazzo (S) 18:45, 3. M. Legere (S) 18:48, 4. Peter Royer (C) 18:55, 5. Trent Sawtelle (C) 18:57, 6.  C. Hoffman (HC) 19:21, 7. Andy Obrzut (C) 19:35, 8. H. Barrett (S) 19:36, 9. J. Szpekman (C) 19:37, 10. Nick Lagonigro (C) 19:40
Records: Canton 5-2, Somers 3-3, Classical 0-6

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Canton 25, Somers 32
Canton 15, Hartford Classical 50
Somers 15, Hartford Classical 50
At West Hartford
Individual results – A. Roche (S) 19:52 for 3.1 miles at Elizabeth Park in West Hartford, 2. K. Raynard (S) 20:43, 3. Emily Briggs (C) 21:06, 4. Belle Magna (C) 21:12. 5. A. Rosniski (HC) 21:13, 6. Cameron McCauley (C) 21:41, 7. Abby Briggs (C) 21:54, 8. Helena Winkler (C) 21:56, 9. A. Delskey (S) 21:59, 10. Jocelyn Rossitto (C) 22:31
Records: Canton 6-1, Somers 5-1, Classical 0-6

League standings (as of Wednesday, Sept. 28)
Teams earn one point for every NCCC dual meet win and one point for every team they beat at the league championship meet.
GIRLS: Ellington 6-0, Canton 6-1, Somers 5-1, Granby 5-1, Bolton 4-2, Coventry 4-3, Suffield 3-4, East Granby 1-4, Stafford 0-2, East Windsor 0-4, Windsor Locks 0-6, Classical 0-6
BOYS: Ellington 6-0, Suffield 6-1, Coventry 5-2, Canton 5-2, Granby 4-2, Bolton 4-2, Somers 3-3, Stafford 1-2, East Granby 1-4, Windsor Locks 1-7, East Windsor 0-5, Classical 0-6

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
The following is the state girls cross country poll as voted by coaches from around the state.
Week 2, Sept. 26
Rank   Team        Pts.   LW
1. Tolland (5)        103    2
2. Glastonbury (4)  92    1
3. Ridgefield           87    3
4. Pomperaug (2)   81    4
5. Immaculate        65    5
6. Ellington             37    6
7. Newtown            34    9
8. Greenwich         32    6
9. Avon                  29    8
10. Wilton              10    nr
Also receiving votes:  Cheshire 8, Simsbury 7, RHAM 7, Fairfield Warde 6, E.O. Smith 5, Staples 1, Mercy 1
Coaches voting: Matt Diglio, HK; Nick Fraticelli, New Fairfield; Bill Mongovan, Greenwich; Brian Collins, Glastonbury; Judi LaFontaine, Tolland; Steve Norris, Darien; Ed Lucas, Oxford; Mike Flynn, East Lyme; Sean Mahon, Amity; Robert Schaefer, Cheshire; Aaron Flamino, Ellington