By MARTY OGDEN
Alex Ostberg, Danae Rivers, Angela Saidman and Brendan Murray are all great high school runners and they all got their start by competing in, and winning, the Connecticut Middle School Cross Country Championships at Wickham Park. The 23rd rendition of the event on Saturday, once again held the day after the high school State Open, provided a glimpse into a possible future championship race.
The boys race came down to a sprint over the last 200 meters between Nick Sinofsky of Suffield Middle School and Taylor Ney of Captain Nathan Hale in Coventry. Sinofsky had enough left for a final kick and pulled away to win by four seconds in 12:22.7 over the hilly 2.3-mile course. His time was nearly a minute faster than last year when he finished sixth.
Smith MS of Glastonbury showed off their star power up front with Alejandro Rincon, Jacob Smith and Zach Smith finishing third, ninth and 12th. They were supported by Ryan Smith and Cameron Pedemonti in 21st and 47th overall. Smith defeated second-place Tolland, 96-122, to win its first championship after finishing fourth last year.
On the girl's side, Rochambeau of Southbury won their fifth straight title behind the efforts of individual winner Madison Villa in 14:07.4. Villa was the Rochambeau's third best seventh-grader last year, but improved 13 seconds to defeat Sarah McAndrew of Dodd MS of Cheshire by six seconds.
Rochambeau continued their dynasty by defeating Smith MS, 54-120, with Molly Flanagan, Kate Wiser, Bethany Karp and Faith Kulis forming a tight pack behind Villa and placing 10th, 11th, 14th and 18th.
Next weekend will be another busy one for Connecticut harriers with the New England Championships on Saturday at Thetford Academy, VT and the USATF-CT Junior Olympic Champions at White Memorial in Litchfield.