Collinsville Press

By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.

Collinsville Press.com

WINDSOR LOCKS, Oct. 21 – Two weeks earlier in their only dual meet meeting of the season, the Avon High girls cross country team had nipped Suffield High by just one point – the closest challenge they had in an undefeated 13-0 campaign.

In the NCCC championship meet, it came down to Avon and Suffield, again.

In head-to-head battles, four Avon runners beat their Suffield counterparts to help the Falcons win the league championship meet, 36-59 and clinch their first North Central Connecticut Conference crown since 2009.

The Falcons had four runners among the first 11 runners and five among the top 16. Suffield had five runners among the top 17.

Avon sophomore Rachael Rosow finished second for the second year in a row behind Coventry’s sensational freshman Ellie Jean. Teammates Sara Stokesbury took third. Freshman Molly Hamel was seventh and junior Katie McIntyre was 11th. Sophomore Madison Zapatka finished 16th.

Stokebury ran side by side with Suffield’s Elizabeth Rigby for virtually the entire race before pulling away in the last half mile to beat her by nine seconds. Hamel beat Suffield’s Monique LaBarre by nine seconds and McIntyre pulled away from Suffield’s Hannah Gardocki by 11 seconds.

Suffield’s Kate Ravenola beat Zapatka by seven seconds to claim 15th place but Zapatka was able to beat Suffield’s fifth runner, Gabrielle Rucsyzk by eight seconds.

“They were amazing,” Avon coach Al Daddario said. “I was a little bit apprehensive but they performed the best they could. They are a tremendous bunch of kids. They work hard. They train hard and I couldn’t be more happy with how they performed.”

Avon shared a league title with Granby and Suffield in 2009 but this is their first outright championship since 2005.

“This is great. I’ve never really been part of a winning team before. We have so many talented runners on this team,” Rosow said. “I’m excited for the years to come.”

As a freshman, Rosow led the NCCC meet for virtually the entire way before Ellington’s Jennifer Hulstein caught her in the final half mile. This year, it was Rosow who was trying to stay with Jean, a national caliber soccer player. Jean was one of 72 players at the U.S. national team’s Under 14 training camp in Portland in September and will be a contender for a spot on the U.S. Under-15 national team next spring.

Rosow ran with Jean for the first mile before Jean began to pull away to win in 19:04, the second fastest time in league history. “My goal was to hang on and give it everything I had,” Rosow said. “I hung on for as far as I could.”

Granby finished fifth in the meet with three All-NCCC runners. The top 15 finishers earned all-conference honors. Ashley Piccirillo finished sixth (20:10), Alexa Cipka took ninth (20:32) and Stephanie Dantos was 14th.

Canton finished sixth in the meet and was led by Emma Frawley (26th) and Emily Coleman (28).

Avon now turns it attention to the Class MM championship meet on Saturday at Wickham Park in Manchester. The Falcons will be a contender for the state title but Guilford looms at a formidable challenger. The senior-dominated Indians won the Southern Connecticut Conference title over the weekend.

NOTEABLE: The league record is held by Avon’s Claire Smith, who ran a 18:53 to win the 2009 league championship. ... The girls varsity race had a false start nearing a minute into the race. After running about 250 yards, the lead pack went to the left of a storage shed instead of to the right and the entire field followed. Race starter Tim O’Donnell fired the gun and brought all of the runners back. And a few minutes later, they began again, repeating the opening sprint of the race. ... Avon's championship was its sixth NCCC title. The Falcons previously won in 1985-87, 2005 and 2009. Avon also won three Northwest Conference titles from 1982 to 1984.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

NCCC championships

At Windsor Locks

Team results – 1. Avon 39, 2. Suffield 56, 3. Bolton 100, 4. Ellington 100, 5. Granby 108, 6. Canton 161, 7. Coventry 204, 8. East Granby 235, 9. Stafford 239, 10. Somers 275, 11. Enfield 311. No team score – Windsor Locks, East Windsor, Sport Medicine and Science Academy

Individual results

1. Ellie Jean, Coventry, 19:04 for 3.1 miles at Windsor Locks, 2. Rachael Rosow, Avon 19:34, 3. Sara Stokesbury, Avon, 19:44, 4. Elizabeth Rigby, Suffield 19:54, 5. Samantha Nyser, Bolton, 20:09, 6. Ashley Piccirillo, Granby 20:10, 7. Molly Hamel, Avon, 20:12, 8. Monique Labarre, Suffield, 20:21, 9. Alexa Cipka, Granby, 20:32, 10. Kayla Sgarlata, Ellington, 20:34, 11. Katie McIntyre, Avon, 21:06, 12. Hannah Gardocki, Suffield 20:59, 13. Josie Gerber, Ellington, 20:34, 14. Stephanie Dantos, Granby 20:58, 15. Katie Ravenola, Suffield, 20:59

Other Avon runners: 16. Madison Zapatka 21:06, 23. Emily Hebb 22:12, 29. Julia deSimas 22:40.

Canton runners: 26. Emma Frawley 22:32, 28. Emily Coleman 22:38, 30. Leigh Ann Rossitto 22:44, 34. Rose Minichello 23:17, 43. Meghan Casey 24:16, 46. Eliza Chekas 24:29, 50. Miranda Fitzpatrick 24:58

Final league standings.

Teams earn 1 point for each dual meet win and 1 point for each team they beat at the league championship meet.

1. Avon 26, 2. Suffield 24, 3. Bolton 22, 4. Ellington 20, 5. Granby 18, 6. Canton 16, 7. East Granby 12, 8. Coventry 11, Stafford 11, 9. Somers 9, 10. Enfield 6

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

NCCC championships

At Windsor Locks

Team results – 1. Suffield 31, 2. Ellington 77, 3. Canton 96, 4. Granby 109, 5. Coventry 110, 6. Bolton 118, 7. Avon 134, 8. Somers 227, 9. East Windsor 269, 10. East Granby 271, 11. Stafford 329, 12. Enfield 353, 13. Windsor Locks 425, 14. Sport Medicine and Science Academy 443.

Individual Results

1. Daniel Moroney, Suffield, 16:23; 2. DJ Labarre, Suffield, 16:27; 3. Jon Cahill, Canton, 16:33, 4. Alex Smith, Ellington, 16:41, 5. Jimmy Clark, Suffield, 16:42, 6. Thomas Cassello, Bolton, 16:57, 7. John Stingle, Granby, 17:04, 8. Connor Gates, Suffield 17:21, 9. Brendan Callahan, Bolton 17:21, 10. Neal Hulstein, Ellington, 17:26; 11. Jake Downham, Coventry 17:27, 12. Alex Norstrom, Coventry, 17:28, 13. Jeff Demers, Avon 17:32, 14. Dylan Chicoine, Granby, 17:34, 15. Patrick Begley, Suffield, 17:40

Other Canton runners: 16. Tyler Fitzpatrick 17:46, 19. Peter LeDuc 17:53, 24. Jarrett Chouinard, 34. Brian Fitzpatrick 18:29, 42. David Benedetti 18:42, 44. Nathan Chekas 18:50

Other Avon runners: 26. Justin Alessio 18:07, 30. Sean Deneen 18:17, 32. Matt Mascoli 18:24, 33. Michael Oberhausen 18:26, 46. Tyler McCutcheon 19:04, 47. Dan Innes 19:12

Final league standings

Teams earn 1 point for each dual meet win and 1 point for each team they beat at the league championship meet.

1. Suffield 26, 2. Ellington 24, 3. Canton 22, 4. Bolton 18, 5. Granby and Coventry 17, 7. Avon 16, 8. Somers 12, 9. East Granby 9, 10. East Windsor 8, 11. Stafford 6, 12. Enfield 5, 13. SMSA and Windsor Locks 1

By GERRY deSIMAS, JR.

Collinsville Press.com

WINDSOR LOCKS, October 21 – It’s been an adjustment for senior Jon Cahill on the Canton High boys cross country team this fall. It hasn’t been the same as it was his first three years on the team.

And that isn’t surprising. In the past two years, Canton won a pair of NCCC titles, 38 straight dual meets, a Class SS state championship, finished fourth at the 2009 State Open and qualified to run in the New England championships.

Those are huge footsteps to follow. But the Warriors are finishing strong. They took third at the NCCC championship meet on Friday with Cahill taking a strong third place finish.

The Warriors are aiming to defend its Class SS championship on Saturday at Wickham Park in Manchester. Northwest Catholic, Coventry and Haddam-Killingworth loom as the competitors that Canton will have to look for.

Undefeated Suffield (13-0) was dominant in winning the NCCC championship meet for the first time since 1998 and clinching the league title. The Wildcats had four runners among the top eight and their first five runners in the top 15, earning All-NCCC honors. Suffield finished with 31 points with Ellington (12-1) second with 77 and Canton (11-2) third at 96 points. Avon (9-4) was seventh with 134 points.

“It’s been a totally different dynamic,” Cahill said. “With those (previous) teams, the upperclassmen led everyone. Those were close-knit teams. We’re trying to hold it together but it doesn’t feel as close as it was before.”

It may not feel as close because there are some gaps between runners this year. The 2009 team had five runners in the top 10 at the NCCC meet, each finishing within a minute of each other. Last year, Canton had five runners in the top 15, with all five finishing the race in a span of less than a minute.

Cahill finished third in 16:32 over the 3.1 mile course while teammate Tyler Fitzpatrick came in 16th place, about 1:14 behind Cahill. Peter LeDuc came in19th while Jarrett Chouinard (24) and Brian Fitzpatrick (34) rounded out Canton’s top five, nearly two minutes behind Cahill.

Cahill was hoping to become the first Canton boy to win a league championship in cross country. He hung with the leaders Daniel Moroney and D.J. Labarre of Suffield for the first half of the race before Moroney began to create some distance from the field. Labarre caught Cahill in the final 400 meters to finish second. Moroney

“I was going for the win but you can’t complain about a top three finish,” he said.

Canton coach Bill Sarmuk was pleased with his team’s performance. “This was good for us,” he said. “(Suffield, Ellington) pushed our kids a lot today.”

The top 15 earned All-NCCC honors and Tyler Fitzpatrick missed by seven seconds, taking 16th place.

Avon was led by Jeff Demers, who finished 14th in 17:31. The Falcons, who went 9-4 in the dual meet portion of the schedule, finished seventh in the meet. A few key injuries sapped the strength from the Avon lineup.

“We had a strong pack of runners but they were off the pace a bit. It was a strong race,” Avon coach Gene Macy said. Justin Alessio (26th place), Sean Deneen (30), Matt Mascoli (32) and Michael Oberhausen (33) each finished in a span of 17 seconds.

Granby finished fourth in the meet, led by an All-NCCC performance from John Stingle, who took seventh in 17:03. Dylan Chiccoine (14th) also earned All-NCCC honors, finishing in 17:35.5. Ethan Lang just missed in 17th place, falling short by 13 seconds.