Raymond holds off Caputo to win third NCCC crown, leads Somers to league title

Somers’ Kylie Raymond (976) races away at the start of Saturday’s 2019 NCCC girls varsity championship race at Bolton High. Raymond won the race and helped Somers win the NCCC championship. Canton’s Julia Caputo (713) finished second. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

Somers’ Kylie Raymond held off Canton’s Julia Caputo to win her third straight North Central Connecticut Conference individual title on Saturday and lead the Spartans to the league championship.

Raymond beat Caputo by 20 seconds with a time of 19:20 over 3.1 miles at Bolton High School to become the first girl since Ellington’s Jessica O’Connor (1989-91) to win three straight NCCC titles.

The Spartans (13-0) had four runners in the top 16 in the race to outlast Suffield, 56-77 to complete an undefeated season and win the league championship. The Wildcats were 12-1 in the dual meet portion of the NCCC campaign.

Canton (12-3, 10-3 NCCC) finished fourth in the league and at the league championship meet. Caputo led the way for the Warriors but Maeve Balavender (11th place, 22:19) and Grace First (13, 22:41) each finished in the top 20. Caputo’s finish was the best finish for a Canton girl since Jane Frawley took second in 2017. The last Canton runner to win the NCCC championship was Melissa Hambley in 2004.

The Granby girls finished eighth and were led by Isabel Gravlin (15, 22:54).

Somers’ Kylie Raymond leads Canton’s Julia Caputo (713) in Saturday’s NCCC championship race. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

In the boys race, Suffield had three runners in the top 10 to edge Ellington, 56-66, and earn a share of the league championship. Ellington went undefeated (13-0) in the dual meet portion of the season and earned 12 points for finishing second in the league championship meet. Suffield was 12-1 in dual meets this fall.

Teams earn one point for each dual meet victory and one point for each team they beat at the league championship meet. Suffield and Ellington each finished with 25 points to share the league title. The last time two teams shared the NCCC title was in 2016 when Suffield and Ellington shared the pennant.

Nathan Davidson (4, 17:01), Charles Brydges (6, 17:10) and Nick Sinofsky (7, 17:21) each finished in the top 10 for Suffield. Ellington’s Jack Olender passed Windsor Locks’ Ryan Kittridge in the final stretches of the race to win his first individual NCCC cross country title with a time of 16:41. Kittridge was eight second behind.

Canton’s Matt Barton (769) races during Saturday’s NCCC championship race in Bolton (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

Kittridge finished first but the Purple Knights next three runners finished tenth, 14th and 15th.

It was just as close in the dual meet a week ago when Ellington edged Suffield, 27-30, handing the Wildcats their only loss of the season.

Canton (12-3, 10-3 NCCC) finished fourth at the championship meet and finished fourth overall in the league. Jack Dendinger led the Warriors by finishing sixteenth in 18:20 while teammate Matthew Barton was 19th with a time of 18:37.

Granby finished fifth, led by David Hitchinger, who was 15th with a time of 18:19 and Charles Attianese, who finished 17th in 18:26.

Canton’s Gabe Mower (782) leads Granby’s Benjamin Gottsche (852) during Saturday’s NCCC championship meet race in Bolton. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

GIRLS
Team results – 1. Somers 56, 2. Suffield 77, 3. Ellington 82, 4. Canton 113, 5. Stafford 125, 6. Coventry 148, 7. Bolton 155, 8. East Granby 178, 9. Granby 179
Top 10 individual results – 1. Kylie Raymond, Somers, 19:20 for 3.1 miles at Bolton, 2. Julia Caputo, Canton 19:40, 3. Emily Brydges, Suffield, 20:05, 4. Rachel St. Germain, Somers, 20:34, 5. Clara Mattson, Ellington, 21:18, 6. Kathryn Bonannon, Ellington, 21:23, 7. Emily Kowal, East Granby 21:28, 8. Bridgit Eckels, Ellington, 21:39, 9. Aleynah Taylor, Windsor Locks 21:52, 10. Karissa Stanio, Suffield, 22:09
Canton finishers: 2. Caputo 19:40, 11. Maeve Balavender, 22:19, 13. Grace First, 22:41; 50. Jenna Cuniowski 26:46, 51. Jessie Webb 26:48, 67. Hannah Sevigny 28:42, 68. Margaret Babbitt 29:00
Granby finishers: 15. Isabel Gravlin 22:54, 38. Evelyn Brooke 24:59, 44. Molly Laird 25:27, 48. Katherine Benoit 26:06, 58. Hannah Lloyd 27:35, 62. Cecelia Nigri 27:51, 64. Edgelynn Venuti 28:02.

2019 NCCC Girls Cross Country

x-won league championship
Teams get one point for each dual meet win and one point for each team they beat at the league championship meet (LCM)

2019 NCCC championships
At Bolton
BOYS
Team results – 1. Suffield 56, 2. Ellington 66, 3. Bolton 70, 4. Canton 123, 5. Granby 132, 6. Rockville 148, 7. Somers 191, 8. East Windsor 243, 9. Coventry 248, 10. Windsor Locks 275, 11. Stafford 297, 12. East Granby 342, 13. HMTCA 368
Top 10 individual results – 1. Jack Olender, Ellington, 16:31 for 3.1 miles at Bolton, 2. Ryan Kittridge, Windsor Locks 16:49, 3. Sam Hollworth, Rockville, 16:55, 4. Nathan Davidson, Suffield, 17:01, 5. Lucas Carini, Bolton, 17:03, 6. Charles Brydges, Suffield 17:10, 7. Nick Sniofsky, Suffield, 17:21, 8. Kevin Bruds, Bolton 17:45, 9. Nathan Kita, East Windsor, 18:00, 10. Gavin Hooughtaling, Ellington, 18:05
Canton finishers: 16. Jack Dendinger, 18:20; 19. Matthew Barton, 18:37; 28. Kevin Csizmesia 19:10, 29. John Holowesko 19:13, 31. Ryan Nickerson 19:19, 39. Gabriel Mower 19:30, 52. Sean Richard 20:20
Granby finishers: 15. David Hitchinger, 18:19, 17. Charles Attianese 18:26, 27. Nicholas Boyd 18:57, 36. Anthony Cavellas 19:25, 37. Ben Gottsche 19:26, 42. Daniel Owen 19:39, 55. Rhys Samalus 20:43

2019 NCCC Boys Cross Country