Many Connecticut teams have taken advantage of out of state
competition this season and have had some outstanding results to show for
it.
Haddam Killingworth boys and girls went down to Jackson, New Jersey to compete in the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational on Saturday. The boys dominated the competition scoring 26 points to Pitman, NJ's 73 in the Section E race. Their 16:51 five-man average was the second fastest time of the day out of the five varsity races behind Kellenberg Memorial, NY.
The Cougars were by senior Daniel Schumann who won the race in 16:13, which was the fastest time of the day across all the races. Jonah Spector took 3rd in 16:22, with Andrew Meredith in 17:00 and Conor Mccabe right behind in 6th in 17:09. Rounding out their scoring was Kurt Soderge with took 11th in 17:34.
Their female counterparts fared equally well, defeating Nazareth Academy of Philadelphia 31-79. They had the 9th fastest time of the day with a 20:40 five- man average. Kelsey D'Amico took the win with a 20:02 and she was followed by fellow senior Julie Kelly in 4th place with a 20:20. Lexie Bouthillier, Grace Lindell, and freshman Meara Bodak completed the scoring by going 9-10-11.
Both teams finished 10th in last year's State Open and 7th in 2015, barely missing qualifying for New Englands both years. Performances such as these will give both teams a chance at being one of the very few Class SS schools to ever qualify for the regional meet.
Over 2000 individual runners entered from 86 schools New England, and the maritime provinces of Canada for the Maine Festival of Champions. The Belfast course will be the site of this year's New England Cross Country Championships.
Glastonbury, the top ranked team in the Woodbridge Running Company Connecticut Coaches Poll, came 
away with a win to solidify their place
in the ranking. They scored 87 points
versus Yarmouth, ME who finished 2nd with 166.
The Tomahawks were led by Erin McGill in 7th place with a 18:54. Angela Braga and Brittany Anderson finished only seconds apart in 15th and 16th. Grace Sparrow took 24th in 19:34 with senior Alexandra Ross rounding out the top five in 20:03.
On the boys side, Canton's Maximillian Sparks finished 2nd to Maine's top cross county runner, Luke Laverdiere of Yarmouth High School. Sparks finished a minute and three seconds faster than he did last year at this meet. His time of 15:41 was 31 seconds behind Laverdiere's 15:10. Sparks, who finished 20th in the State Open last year, now has the 3rd fastest time of any Connecticut runner over a 5000m course this season.
While many Connecticut teams have traveled out of state the
past few weeks, most will stay home next weekend for Wickham Invitation. Nearly
200 teams will descend in East Hartford from five states across New England. Many of the best teams in Connecticut will complete including six of the top 10 girls teams and seven of the top 10 boys teams in the CT Coaches Poll.
Look for complete coverage from CT Milesplit next Saturday.