It was a familiar face at the finish line of the girls' race at the CIAC State Open Friday afternoon at Wickham Park.
For the third straight year, Staples senior Hannah DeBalsi captured the individual title. DeBalsi coasted to an easy, wire-to-wire win en route to a time of 18 minutes, 8 seconds. Highlighted by a runner-up effort from Katherine DeLoreto (19:01), Tolland copped its third consecutive team plaque with a 97-131 win over runner-up Glastonbury.
In the boys' race, last week's 1-2-3 finishers in the Class LL Championship finished the same at the Open with Brien McMahon senior Eric van der Els taking individual honors in 15:47. Ridgefied''s Gabriel Altopp was second at 15:55 and third was Glastonbury's Randy Neish in 16:05. Staples went home with the hardware in the team competition with a 102-115 decision over Danbury.
MileSplit CT will have more coverage of the State Open coming soon. For complete results, video interviews of the top finishers and photos, click here.
Boys Highlights
- 5,000 Meter Run - Eric Van Der Els (Brien McMahon High School) 15:47.00; Gabriel Altopp (Ridgefield High School) 15:55.00; Randall Neish (Glastonbury High School) 16:05.00; James Mas (Saint Joseph High School) 16:16.00; Tommy Consalvo (Brookfield High School) 16:17.00; Ben Siciliano (Guilford High School) 16:18.00; Andrew Thompson (Fairfield Prep High School) 16:18.00; Brendan Murray (Cheshire High School) 16:18.00; Michael Bortolot (Joel Barlow High School) 16:19.00; Harrison Block (Amity High School) 16:20.00; Vann Moffett(East Lyme High School) 16:21.00; Michael Stoker (South Windsor High School) 16:22.00; Zakeer Ahmad (Staples High School) 16:22.00; Alex Connery (Glastonbury High School) 16:23.00; Trevor Reed (Danbury High School) 16:23.00; Patrick Briody (E.O. Smith High School) 16:24.00; Justin Hoelzl (Wilton High School) 16:25.00; Gilmar Barrios (Stamford High School) 16:27.00; Ian Mickool (Ridgefield High School) 16:29.00; Kyle Beaudette (Amity High School) 16:29.00; Jack Adamski (Danbury High School) 16:30.00;