While the weather was cold on Friday, the action was hot
on the track at Xavier High in Middleton.
Over a hundred distance runners braved temperatures in the mid 30s with
a breeze that made it feel colder to compete in the 1st annual
Connecticut Distance Festival. These
less than ideal conditions didn't affect Fairfield Prep's Drew Thompson who
took over the lead about two laps into the 5000m against some of the best
runners in the state.
Thompson led the rest of the way with Hall's Trey Cormier and Windham's Alexander lurking about 30-40 yard behind. It became interesting with about a mile to go when Cormier noticeably picked it up and began gaining on the Footlocker All American. But Thompson must have felt him coming on and was able to hold him off the entire way winning in 15:14.10 to 15:18.03. Korczynski was only a few seconds back running 15:21. The trio ran the 15th, 19th and 20th best times in the country this season.
Including the trio out front, a total of ten boys ran 16:30 or faster.
Kate Daley of The Morgan School's biggest claim to fame
in Connecticut running circles was finishing 2nd in the 
Class SS cross country
meet this fall. But thanks to her
18:23.37 5k win, she is ranked 25th in the US and now looks to be much
improved.
What distance meet would be complete without a mile? Hall's Miller Anderson looks to be continuing his success after his great indoor track season where he won the State Open 1000m from the slow heat and anchored Hall's 4 x 800m to a New England championship. The junior, led most of the race but was passed by Weston's Tim Lautenbach with one lap to go. Anderson had confidence in his finishing speed and went on to run an outdoor PR of 4:20.32 to hold off Lautenbach who finished six seconds back.
While the girl's meet was not as big as the boy's, winning times were still very impressive. Indoor State Open 3200m champion Elizabeth Stockman of Rocky Hill ran a state leading mile time of 5:07.10 on a cold and windy night. This bodes well for much faster times to come for the sophomore.
This meet was organized in just over two weeks when Hall Coach Jeff Billings heard the Trinity Invitational was cancelled this year. After talking with Xavier Coach Chris Stonier, they decided to bring two of the top distance teams together for this shortened evening meet which they plan on making an annual event.