Girls' Class Meet Observation

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The CIAC Class meets held on Saturday October 29^th, had their share of excitement and fast times. Many of the girls' races went as predicted and some of the same teams that have dominated the past few years continued at the top of the standings.

Class SS

Immaculate, which moved from Class S to SS this year, continued their winning ways.  The Mustangs defeated Haddam-Killingworth 53-78 which gives them a class championship four out of the last five years.  They also took the top three places in the meet led by two-time class champion Angela Saidman and followed by senior Danielle Marcone and freshman Brigid Gage. The school with an enrollment of less than 250 girls has also claimed the individual champions six out of ten years. 

In an unusual occurrence, a wild card spot came from both the boys and girl's races in Class SS.  To qualify for the State Open, teams must finish in the top two in their class or run one of the eight best combined team times out of all classes.  Canton girls finished third in their class but ran a 1:46:06 to have the 14^th best team time of the day.  Fellow NCCC boys team Ellington also have the 14^th best time and qualified with their 1:26:50.

Class S

Derby, who didn't even have five scorers four years ago and been Class S runners up two years in a row, finally won their first Class meet championship.  They were led by freshman Sabrina Hanock who finished 2^nd. 

One of the biggest improvements of the day came from the Class S champion Emily Sienna of Hale Ray.  She finished 50^th last year in 23:17 at the Class meet and improved nearly four minutes to finish in 19:36.

Class M

Every three or four years, high school teams have a complete turn over with a brand-new group of athletes.  The only people that remain is the coaching staff.  Well, Judi Lafontaine and Corey Bernier, the Tolland cross country and track coaches have put together the pieces of a puzzle through all three seasons to lead one of the most dominate running programs in the state.  In cross country, the Eagles just won their 6^th straight class title and have won the past three State Open crowns. The past 4 years at the class meet, they have scored 17, 15, 20 and 26 points which could have won a dual meet if the rest of the class combined into one team.

Katherine Deloreto came into the season as the top returner from last year and hasn't disappointed.  She is undefeated this season in all her races and had the fastest time of the day on Saturday.  The Boston College bound senior will now have her sights set on her first State Open title on Friday. 

Class MM

RHAM won four class titles in the early 90s, but haven't won a title since 2007. They were able to turn the tables on two time defending champions Avon with a solid 31-point victory.

Class L

Pomperaug, went into the meet as the #1 team in the state according to the coaches' poll, defeated perennial class meet contender, Wilton by 41 points.  This was without their #1 runner Ivy Walker, who didn't finish the race.  They are now led by former Bethel High coach Mark Goodwin who took the Wildcats to eight straight New England championship meets in he late 80s and 90s and won a State Open title in 1989.  If Walker can return, this will make the Panthers even stronger on Friday.

Junior Morgan McCormick of Wilton has made significant improvements since last fall and won the Class L title with the 2^nd fastest time of the day in 18:50. This was a minute and 41 second improvement from last year when she was 13^th and puts her in contention for the State Open title. 

Class LL

You must go back seven years to find a time when the Class LL wasn't won by either Ridgefield or Glastonbury. These two teams only had one All State runner each, but both teams had an incredibly tight pack with only 42 seconds separating their 1-5 runners.  The race could have gone either way because each team's packs were only a few seconds away from each other. 

One of the greatest displays of depth in the class meets came from Greenwich, whose #2 and 3 runners were forced to drop out of the LL race.  Emily Philippides twisted her ankle in the woods and Hetty McMillan suffered an extreme cramp, but the other girls on the FCIAC runner up team were able to step up and qualify for the State Open based on time.  With both girls back in the lineup the Cardinals may be able to content for one of the top six places to qualify for New Englands.

With All America and three-time Class LL champion, Hannah Debalsi graduated and off to Stamford, the LL individual title was up for grabs. Trumbull's Katelynn Romanchick took over the race from the gun and never looked back, winning in 19:22, the fourth fastest time of the day.

Here are projected team point totals and the top 25 individuals taken from the class meet results: