BOLTON, October 21, 2021 – Sophomore Griffin Mandirola won his first North Central Connecticut Conference championship in cross country on Thursday while teammate Reid Sunshine beat Ellington’s Jordan Bellman by 0.10 of a second to help the Suffield High boys cross country team win a share of their fifth straight NCCC championship.
Suffield (12-0) and Ellington (10-2) each finished tied for the NCCC championship meet with 72 points but the Wildcats brought home the league title by running the table during the dual meet season and earning 12 points to the Purple Knights 10.
Teams earn one point for each dual meet victory and one point for each team they beat at the league championship meet. Suffield finished with 23 points with Ellington getting 21.
In the girls race, Somers beat Bolton, 37-47 to win their second consecutive league championship meet and their second straight league championship. Somers’ Rachel St. Germain won the NCCC individual title.
The Canton boys (9-3) finished sixth in the meet and overall in the league with two runners finishing in the top 10 and earning All-NCCC honors. Jack Dendinger finished third with a time of 17:33 while Tommy Purcell was eighth with a time of 18:13.
The Canton girls (6-6) finished fourth in the league championship meet, led by Morgan Babbitt, who finished 17th with a time of 23:07. The Warriors finished tied for fourth in the overall league standings with Ellington.
Suffield had Mandirola win the league championship with a time of 17:03 over the 3.1 mile course in Bolton but had a big gap which enabled Ellington to get close. The Wildcats had runners finish 15, 16, 19 and 21 to round out the top five. Runners finishing 22 and 25 helped too.
It was Sunshine who finished 22nd with a time of 19:19.41 for Suffield, just beating Ellington’s Jordan Bellman by 0.10 of a second. If those runners switch spots, it is Ellington that wins the league championship meet instead of Suffield.
2021 NCCC championships
At Bolton
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Team results – 1. Suffield and Ellington 72, 3. Bolton 103, 4. Somers 104, 5. Granby 118, 6. Canton 127, 7. Rockville 198, 8. Stafford 201, 9. East Windsor 239, 10. East Granby 286, 12. HMTCA 307
Individual results – 1. Griffin Mandirola, Suffield, 17:03.57 for 3.1 miles at Bolton, 2. Damian Smith, Ellington, 17:18, 3. Jack Dendinger, Canton, 17:33, 4. John Glidden, Rockville 17:43, 5. Aidan Ladr, Ellington 17:53, 6. Ben Campion, Somers, 18:07, 7. Daniel Owen, Granby 18:09, 8. Tommy Purcell, Canton 18:13, 9. Silas Gourley Bolton 18:18, 10. Shepard Livingston, Bolton 18:30
Other Canton runners: 30. Ethan Lindquist 19:43, 43. John Holowesko 20:15, 46. Chris LaPlante 20:41, 48. Liam O’Donnell 20:44, 55. David Grabowski 21:19
Final NCCC standings (one point for a dual meet win, one point for each team beaten at NCCC championship meet): 1. Suffield 23,2. Ellington21, 3. Granby and Bolton 18, 5. Somers 17, 6. Canton 16, 7. Stafford 11, 8. Rockville 10, 9. Windsor Locks, HMTCA, East Windsor 5, 12. East Granby 4, 13. Coventry 0
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
At Bolton
Team results – 1. Somers 37, 2. Bolton 47, 3. Suffield 90, 4. Canton 139, 5. Stafford 146, 6. Rockville 168, 7. Ellington 171, 8. Coventry 185, 9. Granby 195
Individual results – Rachel St. Germain, Somers, 18:35 for 3.1 miles, 2. Emily Brydges, Suffield, 19:59, 3. Megan Minicucci, Bolton 20:15; 4. Stephanie Burzynski, Somers, 20:41, 5. Alexandra Magrey, Coventry, 21:07, 6. Gracie Flynn, Somers 21:32, 7. Anna Carini, Bolton, 21:58, 8. Taylor Michaud, Bolton 21:16, 9. Emma Conway, Suffield 22:19, 10.
Other Canton runners: 17. Morgan Babbitt 23:07, 22. Kylie Wishneski, 23:46, 23, Grace Furst 23:48, 31. Jenna Cuniowski 25:00, 53. Grace Asmar 28: 19
Final NCCC standings (one point for a dual meet win, one point for each team beaten at NCCC championship meet): 1. Somers 24, 2. Bolton22, 3. Suffield 20, 4. Ellington and Canton 15, 6. Stafford 14,7. Granby 12, 8. Coventry and Rockville 10
2021 NCCC championship meet results
