Canton boys split in cross country opener; Lewis Mills boys sweep

Lewis Mills, Berlin and Bristol Central take off in Tuesday’s CCC South meet in Burlington. (Photo courtesy Chris Rau)

SIMSBURY, Sept. 21, 2021 – Jack Dendinger finished second with teammates Thomas Purcell and Ethan Lindquist also finishing in the top 10 as the Canton High boys cross country team opened the season with a split against Suffield and Ellington Tuesday at Stratton Brook Park.

Dendinger finished with a time of 18:18 over the 3.1 mile course with Suffield’s Griffin Mendirola winning the race in 17:56. Suffield beat the Warriors, 22-37 with Canton squeaking out a 27-28 decision over Ellington with Lindquist beating a pair of Ellington runners by two and four seconds, respectively, being the key to the victory.

Lewis Mills wins opener
BURLINGTON, Sept. 21, 2021 – Justin Cascio set a new course record and the Spartans put five runners in the top 10 to sweep a CCC South dual meet from Berlin and Bristol Eastern on Tuesday. Cascio won the 3.1 mile race in 16:14, easily outrunning Bristol Eastern’s Logan Crowley by more than a minute.

Jameson Sederquist (3), Zack Barth (5), Apollo Josephson (7) and Nick Atkins (10) each finished in the top 10 for the Spartans, who beat Berlin 20-39 and topped Eastern, 21-39.

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Suffield 19, Ellington 38
Suffield 22, Canton 37
Canton 27, Ellington 28
At Simsbury
Top 10 results — Griffin Mendirola (Suffield) 17:56 for 5,000 meters at Stratton Brook Park, 2. Jack Dendinger (Canton) 18:18, 3. A. Ladr (Ellington) 19:18, 4. D. Koukel-Kollie (Suffield) 19:38, 5. Thomas Purcell (Canton) 19:44, 6. R. Sunshine (Suffield) 20:40, 7. D. Organ (Suffield) 20:42, 8. C. Flanagan (Suffield) 21:05, 9. C. Lagasse (Ellington) 21:12. 10. Ethan Lindquist (Canton) 21:25
Records: Canton 1-1

Lewis Mills 20, Berlin 39
Lewis Mills 21, Bristol Eastern 39
Berlin 27, Bristol Eastern 30
At Burlington
Top 10 results — 1. Justin Cascio (Lewis Mills) 16:14 for 3.1 miles at Lewis Mills, new course record, 2. Logan Crowley (Bristol Eastern) 17:27, 3. Jameson Sederquist (Lewis Mills) 17:35, 4. Ben Fisher (Berlin) 17:42, 5. Zack Barth (Lewis Mills) 17:56, 6. Dominic Tartarelli (Bristol Eastern) 18:02, 7. Apollo Josephson (Lewis Mills) 18:10, 8. Austin Vale de Serra (Berlin) 18:15, 9. Will Turgeon (Berlin) 18:50, 10. Nick Atkins (Lewis Mills) 19:05
Records: Lewis Mills 2-0, Berlin 2-2, Bristol Eastern 1-3

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Canton drops pair in opener
SIMSBURY, Sept. 21, 2021 — Jenna Cuniowski finished sixth to lead Canton (0-2), which lost to Suffield, 24-31 and Ellington, 25-30 in the season opening meet Tuesday for the Warriors at Stratton Brook Park. 

Mills splits in opening meet
BURLINGTON, Sept. 21, 2021 — Ginny Mullen finished third and teammate Gabriella Zeller was fifth as the Lewis Mills girls cross country team split with Berlin and Bristol Eastern in their season opening meet in Burlington on Tuesday.

Ek takes third at Connecticut River Invitational
CROMWELL, Sept. 18, 2021 – Avon’s Mareen Ek finished third in Saturday’s 10th Connecticut River Valley Invitational at Cromwell High. Ek ran the 3.1 mile course in 20:06.7 to lead the Falcons, who finished eighth in the girls varsity race. 

Suffield 24, Ellington 32
Suffield 24, Canton 31
Ellington 25, Canton 30
At Simsbury
Top 10 results – Emily Brydges (Suffield) 21:09 for 5,000 meters at Stratton Brook Park, 2. E. Conway (Suffield) 23:41, 3. K. McCullough (Suffield) 25:30, 4. B. Eckels (Ellington) 25:30, 5. J. Goric (Ellington) 25:32, 6. Jenna Cuniowski (Canton) 25:37, 7. Kylie Wishneski (Canton) 25:39, 8. A. Mainville (Ellington) 25:42, 9. Grace First (Canton) 26:20, 10. Morgan Babbitt (Canton) 26:35
Records: Canton 0-2

Berlin 21, Lewis Mills 37
Berlin 18, Bristol Eastern 44
Lewis Mills 20, Bristol Eastern 40
At Burlington
Top 10 individuals – Natalia Kmita (Berlin) 21:30 for 5,000 meters at Lewis Mills, 2. Taylor Desmarais (Berlin) 22:03, 3. Ginny Mullen (LM) 22:11, 4. Fiona Gallagher (BE) 22:18, 5. Gabriella Zeller (LM) 22:35, 6. Claudia Jankovich (Berlin) 22:40, 7. Nadia Malec (Berlin) 23:43, 8. Nina Garofalo (Berlin) 23:54, 9. Victoria Vozvyshayeva (Berlin) 24:31, 10. Yana Telnov (LM) 24:51
Records: Lewis Mills 1-1, Bristol Eastern 0-4, Berlin 4-0

Connecticut River Valley Invitational
At Cromwell (Sept. 18)
GIRLS VARSITY
Top 5 results – 1. E.O. Smith 37, 2. Sacred Heart Academy 54, 3. Wethersfield 113, 4. Old Saybrook 116, 5. Mercy 132; 8. Avon 162
Top 10 individuals – Kristina Ponzio, SHA, 19:33.9, 2. Gabriella Hernandez, EOS 19:40.8, 3. Mareen Ek, Avon, 20:06.7, 4. Jayden Stygar, EOS 20:15.1, 5. Catherine Minegar, OS 20:32.1, 6. Emma Kirck, SHA 20:44.2, 7. Madeleine Morgado, Lyme/Old Lyme 20:50.6, 8. Angelika Kotula Sheehan 20:51.3, 9. Allie Leonard, EOS 20:58.1, 10. Natalie Votto, SHA 21:09.4
Other Avon results – 33. Gianna Godbout 24:36, 41. Samantha Tacinell 25:34. 42. Yasmin Rensch 25:36. 43. Katelyn Benson 25:55, 49. Sandy Lu 29:32, 50. Grace Chute 29:56