The Winding Trails Cross Country Invitational is a race run
through one of the most beautiful facilities in Connecticut. On one of the most perfect fall days, more than 1,000 runners and about 60 teams battled it out in this fifth annual fall
classic this past Saturday.
In the first varsity race of the day the Suffield boys, a young team that consists of two freshmen and three sophomores, took home the trophy with
a 47-64 victory over Northwest Regional. The key to the team's victory was its "strength
in the pack" according to junior Wehelie Samatar, who finished 23rd overall on a twisted ankle. "We are looking
forward to NCCC and States," he said, "and we are hungry but humble." Freshman Nick Sinofsky led the way for the
Wildcats and the scoring members of his team, finishing only 26 seconds behind
Samatar.
Sean Parker of Shepaug had the fastest time of the day, running
15:48. He defeated Gavin Woodward of Northwest Regional by 37 seconds. The senior who led his team to the Class S
title last year and earning All State in the process is hoping to move up on
his 78th place finish in the State Open
The Nonnewaug girls, who are led by two freshmen in the top 10, Helene Berger
and Carly Andrew, defeated an 11-team field in the Small School race. The veteran coach of the Chiefs, Arliegh Duff, noticed the key to the victory was their "good wall of runners" that finished
together only 37-seconds apart.
Kathryn Shea, who has always shown some potential, finally
won her first invitational and broke 20 minutes for the first time, winning the
Small School race. The Northwest
Regional junior ran 19:38 and won by 30 seconds over Ellen Arvidson of St.
Bernard. She credits her coach, Pat
Williams, for "helping me improve mentally approaching my races" and has goals of
making the State Open again after making it her freshman year and missing out
last year due to injuries.
While the Small School races highlighted the morning, the
larger schools raced in the afternoon. The
Newtown boys, who won the State Open in 2005, won their first invitational in
several years. Guiding the way is former
championship baseball coach, Carl Strait.
Like he has said so many times on the baseball diamond, he gave credit
to his team for the win. "We had a good
day today," he said. "We were missing two of our
top five and the kids really stepped it up. Stepping up is what typifies the Newtown program."
They were led by junior Joel Duval in fourth place
and their normal top junior varsity runner, Dylan Lew, who came across the line only
47 seconds behind him as their fifth runner.
They were able to beat FCIAC team, New Canaan, 55-71 with SWC rival
Weston finishing third with 83 points.
While New Canaan was denied the team title, its leader Max
Koschnitzke took home the individual title for the Rams. "I got a good start and took the lead at the
top of the hill and pulled away on the downhill," he said. After being junior varsity last year, this
was his first taste of victory in anything over a dual meet. "I biked a lot over the summer and my
teammate Michael St. George has been very motivational," he stated. He is looking forward to improving their team
performances in the post season after finishing 10th in the FCIACs
and 8th in Class L last year.
"It always feels good to do well and it's great that we are finally
getting some result," he added.
To cap off a great day for Newtown, the ninth-ranked girls survived a challenge and pulled off a mild upset over eighth-ranked Avon by a score of 38-43. The two
teams took 10 of the top 14 places and showed why they are two of the top teams
in the state. The defending SWC
champions, who also qualified for New England's with their fifth-place
showing at the Open in 2015 are veterans on the victory stand. Even though Avon only had a 15-second gap between
their 1-5 runners, the third and fourth finishes of their top two runners
Olivia Hage and Erin Tressler was enough to make a difference in the team
standings.
Cheshire's Lauren Daddi, the one-time top freshman in the
state has slowly come into her own and is making a name for herself as one of
the best runners in Connecticut. She won
in 19:09, which turned out to be the fastest time of the day. "I took it out hard and set a pace I knew I
could handle," she said. "I loved the hills.
They were the perfect size." She
is looking forward to racing Bridget Selfors of Mercy and Emily Criscuolo of
Amity in the postseason, two rivals she has faced a great deal and traded
victories back and fourth.
