BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Avon 19, East Granby 44
Avon 15, SMSA 50
Avon 15, Windsor Locks 50
Winner: Jeff Demers (A) 17:35 for 3.0 miles at Colt Park in Hartford, 2. Alex Moyer (EG) 18:23, 3. Will Schroeder (A) 18:28; 4. Tyler McCutcheon (A) 18:36, 5. Michael Oberhausen (A) 18:38; 6. Matt Mascoli (A) 18:48, 7. Justin Alessio (A) 18:55, 8. Max Pierce (A) 19:15, 10. Ponzani (A) 19:22
Record: Avon 9-4
Suffield 15, Avon 44
Suffield 18, Canton 40
Suffield 15, East Windsor 50
Canton 27, Avon 30
Canton 15, East Windsor 50
Avon 15, East Windsor 50
At Suffield
Winner: D.J. Labarre (S) 16:46 for 3.1 miles at Rogers Park, 2. Dan Moroney (S) 16:54; 3. Jon Cahill (C) 17:07, 4. Jimmy Clark (S) 17:37, 5. Connor Gates (S) 17:40, 6. Patrick Begley (S) 17:52, 7. Jeff Demers (A) 18:08, 8. Tyler Fitzpatrick (C) 18:11, 9. Peter LeDuc (C) 18:12, 10. Michael Oberhausen (A) 18:31, 11. Sean Deneen (A) 18:34, 12. Benjamin Gee (S) 18:37, 13. Jarrett Choinaud (C) 18:37, 14. Brendan Kirshbaum (S) 17:38, 15. Will Schoeder (A) 18:42
Records: Suffield 12-0, Canton 9-1, Avon 6-4, East Windsor 3-7
Avon 28, Granby 29
Ellington 27, Avon 30
Ellington 26, Granby 29
At Ellington
1. Alex Smith (E) 16:02 for 2.9 miles at Ellington, 2. John Stingle (G) 16:28, 3. David Bergeron (E) 16:58, 4. Jeff Demers (A) 17:01, 5. Ethan Lang (G) 17:08, 6. Sean Deneen (A) 17:15, 7. Spencer Lebel (E) 17:20, 8. Michael Oberhausen (A) 17:20, 9. Dylan Chicoine (G) 17:24, 10. John Kuehn (E) 17:24, 11. Alex Tessier (G) 17:27, 12. Matt Mascoli (A) 17:31, 13. Tyler McCutcheon (A) 17:47, 14. Justin Alessio (A) 17:55, 15. Eric Spencer (A) 17:55
Records: Avon 3-2, Ellington 4-0
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Avon 15, East Granby 50
Avon 15, SMSA 50
Avon 15, Windsor Locks 50
Winner: Rachael Rosow (A) 19:18 for 3.0 miles at Colt Park in Hartford, 2. Sara Stokesbury (A) 19:37, 3. Molly Hamel (A) 20:40, 4. Katie McIntyre (A) 20:57, 5. Madison Zapatka (A) 21:55, 6. Kristin Goldie (A) 23:02, 7. Julia deSimas (A) 23:03, 8. Maeve Reiss (A) 23:05, 9. Carolyn Roar (EG) 23:09, 10. Emily Hebb (A) 23:53, 11. Sarah Lim (A) 24:14
Records: Avon 13-0
Avon 27, Suffield 28
Avon 15, Canton 48
Avon 15, East Windsor 50
Suffield 15, Canton 50
Suffield 15, East Windsor 50
Canton 15, East Windsor 50
At Suffield
Winner: Rachael Rosow (A) 19:57 for 3.1 miles at Rogers Park, 2. Monique Labarre (S) 20:03, 3. Sara Stokesbury (A) 20:04; 4. Liz Rigby (S) 20:09, 5. Molly Hamel (A) 20:41, 6. Hannah Gardocki (S) 21:07, 7. Katie Ravenola (S) 21:18, 8. Katie McIntye (A) 21: 25; 9. Katelyn Carr (S) 21:39, 10. Maddie Zapatka (A) 21:41; 11. Ellen McGann (S) 21:51; 12. Gabby Rusczk (S) 21:52, 13. Sandra Looney (S) 21:53, 14. Erin Kost (S) 21:58, 15. E. Reynolds (S) 22:01
Records: Avon 10-0, Suffield 11-1, Canton 6-4, East Windsor 0-7
Avon 21, Granby 38
Avon 18, Ellington 39
Ellington 27, Granby 32
At Ellington
Rachael Rosow (A) 19:06 for 2.9 miles, 2. Sara Stokesbury (A) 19:40, 3. Kayla Sgarlata (E) 19:40, 4. Ashley Piccirillo (G) 19:53, 5. Alexa Cipkas (G) 20:01, 6. Madi Zapatka (A) 20:31, 7. Molly Hamel (A) 20:40, 8. Katie McIntyre (A) 20:47, 9. Stephanie Dantos (G) 20:56, 10. Josie Gerber (E) 21:06, 11. Jen Husltein (E) 21:20, 12. Rachel Blinn (E) 22:00, 13. Sarah Lim (A) 22:29, 14. Kristin Goldie (A) 22:29, 15. Maeve Reiss (A) 22:40
Records: Avon 5-0
Collinsville Press.com
AVON, Sept. 21 – After the first two weeks of the girls cross country season, three heavyweight contenders have emerged for the North Central Connecticut Conference championship – Avon, Ellington and Suffield.
The Falcons have already beaten one contender (Ellington) and await their opportunity to challenge Suffield this Wednesday in Suffield. The Wildcats, who shared a piece of the league title with Avon and Granby two years ago in 2009, look impressive.
Suffield is 6-0 through two weeks with its most impressive 19-38 win coming over Granby in week one. However, the Wildcats looked very sharp in Saturday’s Stratton Brook Invitational in Simsbury finishing a strong second to Thomaston, 53-70 in the Small School Division race. Thomaston is ranked eighth in the Northeast by ESPNHS earlier in September.
Avon (5-0) felt good after a challenging week. They dominated defending league champion Ellington, 18-39 and beat Granby, 21-38 by placing five runners in the top eight, led by sophomore Rachael Rosow.
The next day, the Falcons finished second at the Go to the Sun Invitational in Coginchaug on a hilly course. Rosow became the second Avon girl to win the race with a strong time of 19:36. Claire Smith won the race in 2008.
“I can’t say enough of how they trained over the summer. They were focused,” Avon coach Al Daddario said. “They’re a hungry team.”
Rosow set a punishing pace from the start. In the tri-meet against host Ellington and Granby, she pulled away in the second mile and won in 19:06 over 2.9 miles. Sophomore Sara Stokesbury caught Ellington’s Kayla Sgarlata at the end to finish second.
Sophomore Maddie Zapatka, freshman Molly Hamel and junior Katie McIntyre finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. Granby (2-3) was led by Ashley Piccirillo, who finished fourth and Alexa Cipkas in fifth place, seven seconds behind her. Ellington nipped the Bears, 26-29.
At the Going to the Sun Invitational, Rosow again set a strong pace from the beginning and pulled away from the pack by the second mile. She won the 3.1 mile race in 19:36. Stokesbury moved up through the field to finish fifth with Hamel taking 10th, Zapatka in 16th place and McIntyre in the 20th spot.
Valley Regional won the race with 43 points but the Falcons weren’t far off the pace with 52.
The Avon boys cross country team (3-2) isn’t too far from being undefeated. They dropped a five-point decision to Bolton in week one and lost by three to Ellington, 27-30 last week. The Purple Knights had four of the first six runners against Avon. The Falcons did nip Granby, 27-28.
“We ran well but we’re not a strong in the second mile as we need to be,” Avon coach Gene Macy said. “At the two-mile mark, we were in pretty good shape. We have some good packs of runners. We just need to get them 20 to 30 seconds faster.”
Jeff Demers finished fourth for Avon while Sean Deneen was sixth and Michael Oberhausen took eighth.
Granby (2-3) was led by John Stingle, who finished second in 16:28 and Ethan Lang, who took fifth overall.
At the Going to the Sun Invitational, the Avon boys finished third with 115 points behind Old Saybrook (78) and Valley Regional (107). Demers was the top Falcons in12th place in 18:05. Deneen (20th place), Eric Spencer (26), Oberhausen (27) and Tyler McCutcheon (28) each finished within 12 seconds of each other.
Previous race coverage
Avon girls race to Nonnewaug title
WOODBURY, Oct. 15 – The Avon High girls cross country team continues to collect championship hardware. The Falcons ran tough to outlast Pomperaug, 32-43 and win the 53rd annual Nonnewaug Invitational. Avon had four of the top nine runners and five of the top 12, led by sophomores Rachael Rosow (19:21) in second place and Sara Stokesbury (19:25) in third place.
Molly Hamel (6th), Katie McIntyre (9th) and Madison Zapatka (12th) rounded out the top five for the Falcons. Pomperaug had runners finish in fourth, seventh, eighth, 11th and 13th place.
On the boys side, Jeff Demers finished nine to lead Avon to a fourth place finish. In other races, Dan Innes won the junior varsity boys race and Julia deSimas finished second in the girls junior varsity race.
Avon High girls finish regular season at 13-0
HARTFORD, Oct. 12 – Sophomore Rachael Rosow remained undefeated in dual meets with her 10th straight victory as the Avon High girls cross country finished undefeated in the regular season for the second time in three years. The Falcons (13-0) had nine of the top 10 finishers as they shutout East Granby, Windsor Locks and Sport Medicine Science Academy by scores of 15-50.
Avon swept the top five spots in the race with Sara Stokesbury, Molly Hamel, Katie McIntyre and Madison Zapatka coming in behind Rosow. Avon was 12-0 in 2009 and had several undefeated seasons in the 1980s and 1970s.
In the boys race, Avon (9-4) beat East Granby, 19-44 and swept Windsor Locks and SMSA by scores of 15-50. Jeff Demers earned the victory as Avon put nine runners in the top 10. Will Schroeder took third, Tyler McCutcheon was fourth and Michael Oberhauser was fifth.
Both teams will race in the Nonnewaug Invitational Friday in Woodbury before the NCCC championship meet next Friday at Windsor Locks.
Avon girls nip Suffield, remains undefeated
SUFFIELD, Oct. 5 – It was just one race but it sets the tone for the NCCC championship meet two weeks from now in Windsor Locks. The Avon High girls cross country turned in a gutsy performance to nip host Suffield, 27-28 and remain unbeaten at 10-0. On the boys side, Suffield ended Canton’s 38-meet NCCC winning streak with a decisive 18-40 victory.
The NCCC championship meet is Friday, Oct. 21 at Windsor Locks High School and the results of this meet leave the Avon girls and Suffield boys in the driver’s seat to win conference championships. Each team receives one point for each dual meet win in the league and one point for each team they beat at the NCCC championship meet.
Avon (10-0) is looking for its first league title since they shared it with Suffield and Granby in 2009. They beat Suffield with a balanced effort from their top five runners. Sophomore Rachael Rosow remained undefeated in dual meets with a six-second win over Suffield’s Monique Labarre.
Sophomore Sara Stokesbury outsprinted Suffield’s Liz Rigby at the end to earn a key third place finish while Molly Hamel finished fifth. Katie McIntyre took eighth while Maddie Zapataka finished strong in 10th place. Anyone of Avon’s top five slip one spot and the Falcons end up with a loss.
“I see a lot of determination,” Avon coach Al Daddario said. “They want to win. They battle every step of the way.”
Avon has one regular season meet left on next Wednesday and they will be heavily favored to sweep East Granby, Windsor Locks and host Sport Medicine Science Academy in Hartford.
In the boys race, Suffield (12-0) was savoring its first win over Canton in two years. The Wildcats had five of the top six runners in the race. Only Canton’s Jon Cahill (17:07) broke into that pack with his third place finish. Tyler Fitzpatrick and Peter LeDuc were eighth and ninth, respectively for the Warriors while Jarrett Choinaud took 13th place. But with Choinaud finishing in front of group of four Avon runners helped Canton top the Falcons, 27-30.
“It really wasn’t one of our better races,” Canton coach Bill Sarmuk said. “We were slower than we thought. We thought we had prepared them to run on a flat course but they were running on empty tanks.”
Having lost to Suffield earlier in the season at the Stratton Brook Invitational, the Warriors knew it would be a stretch to hang with Suffield. But they thought they could run faster. “We’re not disappointed,” he said. “We’re looking to peak in a few weeks.”
Avon girls capture
first Bellringer title
AVON, Oct. 1 – The Avon High girls cross country team placed four runners among the top eight finishers to win its first Bellringer Invitational title on Friday in East Hampton. Avon had finished second to the host Bellringers for three straight years.
Sophomore Rachael Rosow took second behind Coventry freshman Ellie Jean, who clipped 15 seconds off the course record set by Avon's Claire Smith in 2009. Jean won the race in 20:03 with Rosow coming in at 21:19. Avon's Sara Stokesbury took third with Molly Hamel in fourth place and Katie McIntyre taking eighth. Avon outlasted East Hampton, 34-43.
On the boys side, the Falcons took fourth, led by Matt Mascoli in 14th place in 19:30 for the 3.1 mile course. Jeff Demers was second for Avon in 19th place. Michael Oberhausen was third for the Falcons in 19th place.
Avon girls remain undefeated, close races for boys
ELLINGTON, Sept. 20 – The Avon High girls cross country made a statement Tuesday. Facing defending league champion Ellington and a strong Granby squad, the Falcons put five runners in the top seven finishers and eight in the top 15 to remain undefeated (5-0, 5-0) with a 21-38 win over Granby and an 18-39 win over Ellington. Avon’s Rachael Rosow set a hard pace from the beginning and pulled away after about a mile. Sara Stokesbury caught Ellington’s lead runner Kayla Sgarlata at the finish to take second place.
On the boys side, Avon slipped past Granby, 28-29 thanks to Justin Alesso and Eric Spencer beating the Bears’ No. 5 runner. Jeff Demers led the Falcons with a fourth place overall finish in 17:01 with Sean Deneen taking sixth overall in 17:15. Ellington outlasted the Falcons, 27-30 with the Knights’ fifth runner, John Kuehn finishing strong and taking 10th overall in 17:27.
Both teams will be competing Wednesday at the Coginchaug Invitational in Durham.
2011 cross country preview
Strong start for Avon runners
AVON, Sept. 16 – The season is young and the hopes are high for the Avon High boys and girls cross country teams. The campaign got off to a fine start last week on the sandy paths of Winding Trails in Farmington.
The Avon girls placed five runners in the top seven as they easily beat Bolton, 21-48, Stafford, 15-50 and Coventry, 15-50. The Avon boys did well nipping Coventry, 29-30 and shutting out Stafford, 15-50. But they came up short in a 25-30 defeat to Bolton.
Coach Al Daddario has a young girls team that he hopes can contend for its second NCCC championship in the past three years. The Falcons (3-0, 3-0 NCCC) shared a piece of the championship in 2009.
The Falcons looked sharp in its season opening sweep. Sophomore Rachael Rosow remained undefeated in dual meets with her sixth career victory, racing over the 3-mile course in 19:31. Sophomore Sara Stokesbury was second in 20:20.
Freshman Molly Hamel was fourth in 20:46 with junior Katie McIntyre (21:20) and sophomore Madison Zapatka (21:47) rounding out Avon’s top five runners.
“It’s a young team,” Daddario said. “We always try to beat Ellington and Suffield but it’s an uphill climb. Our runners worked hard this summer and it really shows. If they stay with it and peak at the right time, we’ll be all right.”
Defending league champion Ellington looms as the favorite. The Knights have virtually their entire team back and last fall, they had eight straight runners finish second through ninth place to beat the Falcons, 20-41. Can the Falcons break up the pack and score some points? Avon ran against Ellington on Tuesday.
On the boys side, coach Gene Macy is hoping his Falcon team can take the next step and stand among the elite teams in the NCCC. Avon finished tied for second in the league in 2005 but hasn’t come closer than fourth place since.
Macy is banking on a competitive spirit to drive his team. He has 39 runners on the team, ensuring that no spot in the seven-man varsity lineup is secure.
“We really would like to crack into that top three in the conference,” he said. Two-time defending champion Canton, Suffield, Ellington and Bolton loom as the teams at the top of the league.
Junior Jeff Demers was Avon’s top runner Wednesday, taking third in 17:02. Senior Matt Mascoli was seventh in 17:30 while senior Sean Deneen was ninth in 17:39. A second off the pace was junior Mike Oberhausen in10th place. Senior Eric Spencer (14, 18:14), sophomore Jack Wendler (15, 18:21) and Conor Wise (18, 18:36) rounded out the top seven for the Falcons.
Avon beat Coventry by a point thanks to Spencer beating out a Coventry runner by six seconds for 14th place. But against Bolton, the Bulldogs were took strong with three runners among the top five and five in the top nine finishers.
Teams earn one point for each team they beat in a league dual meet and one point for each team they beat at the league championship meet in October in Windsor Locks.
Avon held the meet at Winding Trails because Fisher Meadows was unavailable due to the recent flooding of the Farmington River.
On Saturday, Avon participated in the 33rd annual Haddan Windham Invitational. The Falcon girls looked sharp, taking second in the Varsity II race with 69 points. Cheshire won the race with 56 points. Rosow finished second in 19:31 while Stokesbury was sixth in 20:11. On the boys side, the Avon boys took seventh in the Varsity II race.
