Avon boys cross country team races to first state championship

The Avon High boys cross country team, won their first-ever state championship Monday, claiming the Class MM crown. (Photo courtesy Melissa Morgan)

All season long, the Avon High boys cross country team has been working toward this day – a shot at a state championship.

You could see it at dual meets throughout the fall. The Falcons worked on running together as a pack. It paid off on Monday at Wickham Park in Manchester.

Avon had five runners finish among the top 12 in the CIAC Class MM championship race to lift the Falcons to their first-ever state championship in boys cross country. Avon beat Hand by 32 points with a 38-70 victory.

Jack Martin finished second with a time of 16:30 over the hilly and muddy 3.1 mile course at Wickham Park with teammate Carver Morgan in third place in 16:43. Thomas Armistead finished tenth – the leader of the second pack of Falcon runners with Jack O’Donnell one second back in 11th place and Nicholas Bailey five seconds back in 12th place.

“Our team strategy has been to focus on two aspects of training: hill running and pack running,” Avon High coach Cortney Fusco said. “I’m happy to report that both paid off today, as we had a nice one-two punch at the front of the race and then a solid pack of four to round out the top 15.”

Canton’s Jack Dendinger finished second in the Class SS race to lead the Warriors to a fourth place finish with Lewis Mills’ Justin Cascio taking second in the Class M race as the Spartans finished ninth.

Among the girls teams, Avon’s Marenn Ek finished third in the Class MM race to lead the Falcons. In Class SS, Canton’s Grace First was the top Warrior in the race taking 20th place while Ginny Mullen led Lewis Mills with a 25th place finish in the Class M race.

Three times, the Avon High boys had finished second, including a second place finish in 2019 behind East Lyme when Martin won the Class MM state title.

The Falcons were no surprise in the cross country community considering their victory over Hand in the Medium Division at the Wickham Park Invitational in October and a strong second place finish behind Hall at the Central Connecticut Conference meet a week ago.

“We knew we had a target on our backs,” Fusco said. “Daniel Hand raced very well at their own (Southern Connecticut) conference championships, so we knew we had to have a good day if we were going to contend for the title.”

For most of the season, Lucas Hester has been the No. 3 runner for the Falcons but he strained his back last week. On Monday, he just couldn’t stay with the lead groups.

“We weren’t sure how it would affect his running in this meet,” Fusco said. “Typically, Luke is our No. 3, and finishes somewhere between the Jack/Carver duo and our (next) pack. He’s a key part of our success, but the strength of our team is that when one of our guys has an ‘off’ day, the other guys can step up and fill that role.”

Once again, Martin and East Lyme’s Luke Anthony battled for the lead in the meet. Two years ago, it was Martin who came out on top. This year, it was Anthony with his winning time of 15:59. Martin was second in 16:30 with Morgan finishing third.

“A top-of-the-lineup duo like that doesn’t come along every year,” Fusco said.

Armistead finished tenth with his second-best time at Wickham Park this season as he led Avon’s second pack of runners across the line.

“The breakout performance of the day was probably from Thomas Armistead, who has been steadily moving up through our order all season,” Fusco said. “He was 3rd for us today in 10th place overall, and led our pack that finished 10th, 11th (Jack O’Donnell), 12th (Nick Bailey), and 15th  (Jevonte Eaves).”

Eaves also ran his best time in the park. “(O’Donnell) was able to run extremely well even after helping up a fallen competitor halfway through the race,” Fusco said. “Nick continued his trend of being one of the most consistently reliable guys on the team.”

Avon’s top five runners each earned All-State honors. The Falcons advance to the Friday’s CIAC State Open championship meet also at Wickham Park.

“I’m extremely proud of how these young men competed today,” Fusco said. “They’ve worked very hard for four years to reach this level, and they’re well deserving of their place in school and CIAC history. It’s easy to coach guys who are this dedicated.”

In the Class SS race, Dendinger has his fastest time of the year (17:20.3) but it wasn’t enough to catch Haddam-Killingworth’s Caleb Freeman, who won the race in 17:03. It was the best individual performance from a Canton runner since 2017 when Max Sparks won a Class SS championship.

Thomas Purcell earned a top 20 finish, taking 13th place in 18:25 as the Warriors finished fourth – their best performance as a team this season. Canton finished in the top eight for the 15th consecutive year including ten top four finishes.

Cascio finished second in Class M, seven seconds off the pace set by Suffield’s Griffin Mandirola, who won the race in 16:41.

Ek cut 14 seconds off her time at the CCC championship meet as she finished third with a time of 20:30 at the Class M meet to earn an invitation to the State Open. The Falcons finished 12th as a team.

In the Class SS race, Grace First was the lead runner for Canton with a time of 22:58 and a 20th place finish. The Warriors didn’t score as a team because they had just four runners that finished the race. A team needs five runners to earn a team score.

2021 CIAC cross country championships
At Manchester (Wickham Park)

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Class MM
Complete results at http://content.ciacsports.com/bcc21mm.shtml
Team Results: 1. Avon 38, 2. Daniel Hand 70, 3. East Lyme 79, 4. E.O. Smith 139, 5. RHAM 163, 6. Woodstock Academy 200, 7. Notre Dame-West Haven 240, 8. Brookfield 257, 9. Berlin 259, 10. Bethel 267, 11. Bristol Eastern 283, 12. Lyman Hall 344, 13. Watertown 380, 14. North Haven 402, 15. Stratford 424, 16. Torrington 454, 17. Abbott Tech 457, 18. Masuk 471, 19. Platt Tech 505
Top 20 individuals: 1. Luke Anthony, East Lyme 15:59; 2. Jack Martin, Avon 16:30; 3. Carver Morgan, Avon 16:43; 4. John O’Keefe, Daniel Hand 16:50; 5. Liam Calhoun, RHAM 16:58; 6. Evan Boland, E.O. Smith 17:08; 7. Nicholas Montana, Daniel Hand 17:18; 8. Harrison Grenier, Daniel Hand 17:19; 9. Brendan Fant, East Lyme 17:21; 10. Thomas Armistead, Avon 17:40; 11. Jack O’Donnell, Avon 17:41; 12. Nicholas Bailey, Avon 17:45; 13. Evan Bureau, Bethel 17:46; 14. John Glidden, Rockville 17:50; 15. Jevonte Eaves, Avon 17:57; 16. Ian Hoffman, Woodstock Academy 18:00; 17. Daniel Hilmer, Daniel Hand 18:11; 18. Sean McCauley, East Lyme 18:12; 19. Troy Miller, RHAM 18:13; 20. Tiarnan Doyle, Rockville 18:13
Other Avon runners: 28. Lucas Hester 18:51

Class M
Complete results at http://content.ciacsports.com/bcc21m.shtml
Team Results: 1. Joel Barlow 93, 2. Tolland 135, 3. Weston 135, 4. Suffield 140, 5. Woodland 158, 6. Rocky Hill 163, 7. Ellington 167, 8. Branford 194, 9. Lewis Mills 232, 10. Plainville 277, 11. Foran 285, 12. Waterford 312, 13. Sheehan 338, 14. Bacon Academy 361, 15. New Fairfield 394, 16. Northwestern 428, 17. Jonathan Law 431, 18. Ledyard 507, 19. Prince Tech 516, 20. Wolcott 616, 21. St. Joseph 629, 22. Norwich Tech 638
Top 20 individuals: 1. Griffin Mandirola, Suffield 16:41; 2. Justin Cascio, Lewis Mills 16:48; 3. Luke Stoffler, Tolland 16:49; 4. Calvin Young, Joel Barlow 17:20; 5. Brayden Bayek, Rocky Hill 17:20; 6. Colin Slavin, Woodland 17:21; 7. Bryan Martinez, Rocky Hill 17:34; 8. Wesley Raymond, Branford 17:36; 9. Cooper Capola, Weston 17:38; 10. Damian Smith, Ellington 17:43; 11. Liam Fedigan, Jonathan Law 17:44; 12. Ryan Schmid, Joel Barlow 17:49; 13. Cole Mancinelli, Weston 17:55; 14. Peyton Moriarty, Branford 17:55; 15. Matthias Galban, Joel Barlow 17:55; 16. Nicholas Lachapelle, Woodland 18:00; 17. Chase McNamara, Plainville 18:01; 18. Ryan Moores, Bacon Academy 18:12; 19. Aidan Ladr, Ellington 18:22; 20. Jeremy Rivera, Prince Tech 18:25
Lewis Mills runners: 2. Justin Cascio 16:48, 40. Jameson Sederquist 19:07, 43. Nicholas Atkins 19:15, 66. Apollo Josephson 19:58, 81. Josh Mazar 20:25, 89. Quinn Cahill 20:37

Class SS
Complete results at http://content.ciacsports.com/bcc21ss.shtml
Team Results: 1. Haddam-Killingworth 52, 2. East Hampton 87, 3. Griswold 91, 4. Canton 128, 5. Somers 168, 6. Granby Memorial 181, 7. Holy Cross 224, 8. Old Lyme 245, 9. Valley Regional 285, 10. East Catholic 312, 11. Plainfield 317, 12. Cromwell 333, 13. Montville 333, 14. Seymour 356, 15. Stafford 389, 16. Morgan 429, 17. University 491, 18. Nonnewaug 515, 19. Northwest Catholic 529, 20. WCA 577, 21. Weaver 586, 22. Aerospace 611, 23. Bloomfield 613
Top 20 individuals: 1. Caleb Freeman, Haddam-Killingworth 17:03; 2. Jack Dendinger, Canton 17:20; 3. Michael Strain, Griswold 17:25; 4. Lucas Strain, Griswold 17:35; 5. Israel Caro, East Catholic 17:38; 6. Christian Malave, Ansonia 17:53; 7. Jacob Strain, Griswold 17:57; 8. Jack Pothier, Plainfield 18:04; 9. Alexander Lara, Haddam-Killingworth 18:06; 10. Benjamin Campion, Somers 18:08; 11. Andrew Hedges, Haddam-Killingworth 18:12; 12. Aiden Palen, East Hampton 18:16; 13. Nathan Ireland, East Hampton 18:22; 14. Thomas Purcell, Canton 18:25; 15. Joseph Dane, Holy Cross 18:27; 16. Jack Cozean, Haddam-Killingworth 18:29; 17. Gabriel McMillian, East Hampton 18:47; 18. Ranju Iyer, Montville 18:48; 19. Colton Merola, Haddam-Killingworth 18:50; 20. Colin Czuchra, Oxford 18:53
Canton runners: 2. Jack Dendinger 17:20, 13. Thomas Purcell 18:25, 35. Nathan Hiscox 19:37, 36. David Grabowski 19:42, 42. John Holowesko 19:59, 44. Liam O’Donnell 20:01, 61. Christopher Laplant 20:27

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Class MM
Complete results at http://content.ciacsports.com/gcc21mm.shtml
Team Results: 1. Guilford 65, 2. Woodstock Academy 90, 3. East Lyme 99, 4. Bethel 121, 5. Brookfield 154, 6. Berlin 165, 7. RHAM 190, 8. Suffield 229, 9. Windsor 273, 10. Foran 278, 11. Bunnell 304, 12. Avon 314, 13. Jonathan Law 317, 14. North Haven 369, 15. St. Joseph 381, 16. Masuk 406, 17. Fitch 449
Top 20 individuals: 1. Julia Antony, Guilford 19:45; 2. Natalia Kmita, Berlin 20:29; 3. Marenn Ek, Avon 20:30; 4. Yee-Ying Ng, Bethel 20:33; 5. Emily Brydges, Suffield 20:36; 6. Ava Graham, Bethel 20:47; 7. Linsey Arends, Woodstock Academy 20:49; 8. Olivia Skapczynski, Guilford 21:02; 9. Alexa Suchy, Guilford 21:10; 10. Meghan Guilbeault, Brookfield 21:27; 11. Claire Moulton, Jonathan Law 21:31; 12. Isabelle Paggioli, East Lyme 21:41; 13. Emma Conway, Suffield 21:54; 14. Lauren Brule, Woodstock Academy 21:55; 15. Kennedy Holsapple, East Lyme 22:04; 16. Rachael Turek, Bethel 22:05; 17. Maya D’Aquila, East Lyme 22:06; 18. Jocelyn Ciotti, Bunnell 22:06; 19. Bernadette Karpel, Hillhouse 22:08; 20. Isabel Cintron, Rockville 22:09
Avon runners: 3. Marenn Ek 20:30, 70. Hope-Eesha Chokshi 24:43, 78. Yasmin Rensch 25:25, 81. Samantha Tacinelli 25:36, 82. Gianna Godbout 25:38, 84. Julia Freeman 25:39, 99. Ying Ying Cheng 27:27

Class M
Complete results at http://content.ciacsports.com/gcc21m.shtml
Team Results: 1. Sacred Heart Academy 71, 2. Tolland 113, 3. New Fairfield 146, 4. Ledyard 163, 5. Weston 163, 6. Mercy 195, 7. Rocky Hill 197, 8. Northwestern 209, 9. Lauralton Hall 252, 10. Joel Barlow 264, 11. Wolcott 283, 12. Lewis Mills 287, 13. Bacon Academy 287, 14. Waterford 288, 15. Ellington 311, 16. Branford 335
Top 20 individuals: 1. Peyton Bornstein, Tolland 20:09; 2. Calista Mayer, Tolland 20:16; 3. Jordan Malloy, Bacon Academy 20:29; 4. Kristina Ponzio, Sacred Heart Academy 20:33; 5. Kelly Jones, Lauralton Hall 20:55; 6. Maria Corcoran, Rocky Hill 21:17; 7. Clare Inyang, Ledyard 21:22; 8. Katherine Beauchene, Northwestern 21:23; 9. Jane Smith, Weston 21:32; 10. Emma Kirck, Sacred Heart Academy 21:51; 11. Sydney Borofsky, Joel Barlow 21:54; 12. Hayley Greco, New Fairfield 21:59; 13. Natalie Votto, Sacred Heart Academy 22:02; 14. Kathleen Saussy, Weston 22:17; 15. Ripley Penney, New Fairfield 22:17; 16. Carys Cook, Lauralton Hall 22:29; 17. Caroline Phillips, Mercy 22:32; 18. Sadie August, Weston 22:36; 19. Victoria Schweitzer, Ledyard 22:37; 20. Angelika Kotula, Sheehan 22:50
Lewis Mills runners: 25. Ginny Mullen 23:31, 61. Gabriella Zeller 25:31, 63. Trinity Moulton 25:40, 66. Marcella Slason 25:48, 72. Reilly Greene 26:15, 82. Yana Telnov 27:10

Class SS
Complete results at http://content.ciacsports.com/gcc21ss.shtml
Team Results: 1. Haddam-Killingworth 50, 2. East Hampton 61, 3. Plainville 136, 4. Woodland 158, 5. Valley Regional 175, 6. Coginchaug 209, 7. Montville 209, 8. Seymour 209, 9. Northwest Catholic 224, 10. Morgan 244, 11. Abbott Tech 258, 12. Granby Memorial 280, 13. Old Lyme 283, 14. Coventry 331, 15. Bloomfield 346, 16. Griswold 362, 17. Platt Tech 428
Top 20 individuals: 1. Chloe Poulos, Woodland 19:54; 2. Kaylee Gravel, East Hampton 20:22; 3. Alexandra Magrey, Coventry 21:00; 4. Isabel Berardino, Haddam-Killingworth 21:18; 5. Ava Cunningham, Valley Regional 21:31; 6. Brianna Minervino, Haddam-Killingworth 21:31; 7. Maya Suarez, Montville 21:45; 8. Ava Dimatteo, Haddam-Killingworth 21:46; 9. Grace Jacaruso, Valley Regional 21:51; 10. Isabella Jensen, East Catholic 21:52; 11. Kaitlyn Ireland, East Hampton 21:56; 12. Peyton Dauphinais, Seymour 22:00; 13. Savannah Garcia, East Hampton 22:12; 14. Gabrielle Guirgis, Northwest Catholic 22:13; 15. Gianna Rodriguez, Plainville 22:17; 16. Sydney Adelberg, Haddam-Killingworth 22:31; 17. Paige Raffaele, Abbott Tech 22:46; 18. Chloe Lacoss, Haddam-Killingworth 22:53; 19. Annin Daley, East Hampton 22:55; 20. Grace First, Canton 22:58
Canton runners: 20. Grace First 22:58, 21. Morgan Babbitt 23:00, 23. Kylie Wishneski 23:20, 82. Grace Asmar 27:01. Canton had no team score. You need five runners to finish the race to get a team score.