New Milford apparently never got the message about what a team is supposed to do at the Bowdoin Classic.
Teams from the Northeast go to Bowdoin to review the course in a measured conservative fashion on a day that is always hot and humid in late September beside the Hudson River in Wappingers Falls, NY. You are there to check out Bowdoin's Mt. Doom in preparation for a return visit in late November for the Nike Northeast Regional championship. You run maybe hard enough to break a sweat, but you don't go there all gang busters thinking that you'll show everyone that you aim to be the best team in the state.
Clearly New Milford had a different idea last Saturday, and the Green Wave went to Bowdoin and just killed. Finishing 2nd only to NJ powerhouse Haddonfield, New Milford posted a 20:12 average time that equated to a 102.6 speed rating. That mark would be good enough to position the Green Wave among the top six teams in NY, a state headed by the nation's top ranked team Saratoga and twelve-time national champ Fayetteville-Manlius. In CT, the speed rating is by far the best this year, with Hall's 81.2 rating at the Ocean State invite taking the second spot. Ridgefield and Glastonbury have not run at meets that have been officially speed rated, though Glastonbury's early win at Stratton Brook was estimated at around 85.
Whether or not they got the message on Saturday, the Green Wave have certainly sent one out. Claire Daniels and Sydney Kelleher went 1-2 in Bowdoin's Varsity 2 race, and Maddie Sweeney placed 9th as the top trio ran well over the 100 speed rating mark on the 5K course. Izzy Greene, Ellie Rainey, and Mya Morabito all finished between 26th and 35th as New Milford finished just 6 points behind Haddonfield. The performance also comes a week after the New Milford guys' impressive win at the Pawling-Dan Purdy meet in NY.
The Green Wave will have a lot more to say this year, but for now you can catch up with them after the heated action at Bowdoin.