Avon High freshman Madison McGarry (12) earned All-State honors by finishing 15th in Thursday’s State Open cross country championships in Manchester. (Photo courtesy CIAC)
MANCHESTER, Nov. 5, 2026 – Avon High freshman Maddie McGarry and senior Abigail Van Hoof each finished in the top 25 at Thursday’s State Open championships on Thursday at Wickham Park to secure invitations to race at the upcoming New England championship meet on Nov. 14 in Belfast, Maine.
McGarry finished 15th in the field with a time of 19:42.5 while Van Hoof finished 24th with a time of 19:57.8. They will be the first Avon girls to race at the New England cross country meet since Rhiannon Richmond in 2019. McGarry won her first state championship in cross country a week ago with a victory in the Class MM championship race. The top 25 individual finishers and top six teams from Connecticut qualify for the New England championships.
Five other Avon runners ran at the Open on Thursday at Wickham Park in Manchester, which was moved up a day due to the forecast of rain on Friday.
Leo Rasy had the top time among the Avon boys, finishing 93rd with a time of 17:43. Henry Albert (115, 17;52) and Andrew Kessler (122, 18:00) also ran for the Falcons. Freshman Hollie Vale was 35th in the girls race with a time of 20:22.
Class S champion Rockwell Madden of East Granby finished 33rd in the boys race with a time of 16:57.4
The Simsbury girls, led by sophomore Josephina Fox in 28th place (20:12), finished sixth at the State Open. The Simsbury boys, led by sophomore Henry Pugliese in 18th place (16:35), finished 13th overall in the race.
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
2026 State Open championships
At Manchester
Team (top 10): 1. Xavier 83, 2. Greenwich 88, 3. Newtown 172, 4. Glastonbury 180, 5. Ridgefield 212, 6. Haddam-Killingworth 212, 7. Hall 220, 8. Danbury 221, 9. Southington 227, 10. New Canaan 251
Other area teams: 13. Simsbury 315
Top 10 overall: Tycen LaBelle, Griswold, 15:37.6 for 3.1 miles at Wickham Park, 2. Zackary O’Toole, Stratford 16:02, 3. Nico Cardello, East Lyme 16:02, 4. Holden Hines, Xavier, 16:11, 5. Gabriel White, EO Smith 16:18, 6. Vihaan Kamath, Greenwich 16:20, 7. Alex Martin-Casas, Hall 16:22.0, 8. James Perrault, Xavier 16:22.2, 9. Edward Kushel, Fairfield Warde, 16:28.1, 10. Paul Sullivan, Wilton 16:28.6
Avon runners: 97. Leo Rasy 17:43, 115. Henry Albert 17:52, 122. Andrew Kessler 18:00
2026 CIAC State Open (Athletic.net)
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
2026 State Open championships
At Manchester
Top 10 teams: 1. Glastonbury 90, 2. New Canaan 129, 3. Ridgefield 146, 4. Mercy 149, 5. East Lyme 199, 6. Simsbury 221, 7. Staples 250, 8. Greenwich 255, 9. Woodstock Academy 261, 10. Trumbull 270
Top 10 overall: 1. Lauren Parrett, Glastonbury 17:47.7 for 3.1 miles at Wickham Park, 2. Sophie Passalacqua, Greenwich, 18:28, 3. Harper Shirley, Manchester 18:43, 4. Angelina Ruggeri, Ridgefield 18:55, 5. Molly Chien, Hall, 18:57, 6. Maxine Rothman, Manchester 19:01, 7. Cora Wasiolek, Mercy, 19:03, 8. Sienna deKanter, New Canaan 19:06, 9. Ashley Brining, Hale-Ray 19:12, 10. Rebecca Langlais, Tolland, 19:20
Avon runners: 15. Madison McGarry 19:42.5, 24. Abigail Van Hoof 19:57.8, 35. Hollie Vale 20:22
2026 CIAC State Open (Athletic.net)
