GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY Pomperaug’s Wiser captures Class L title

MANCHESTER — The comparisons between Pomperaug junior Kate Wiser and former Staples standout Hannah DeBalsi are unavoidable.

They took similar tracks to the top of the sport, with the latter setting numerous records for the former to chase.

One of the biggest ones fell in perfect conditions at the home of Connecticut cross country.

Wiser etched her name into Wickham Park lore Saturday on her way to capturing the Class L title. Her time of 17:39 set a new course record, two seconds ahead of DeBalsi’s mark.

“It’s been one my mind, I wanted to do it one of these races,” Wiser said. “I was feeling good. When I saw 40 seconds I had left for the final straightaway, because other than that I don’t really know what my time is.”

New Canaan took the team title with 56 points, a commanding performance with all five runners finishing in the top 18. The Rams needed all of that as Simsbury finished second with 62 while Wilton, Darien and Pomperaug rounded out the top five.

“We’ve never been this high up in emotions,” New Canaan senior Sophie Curcio. “Just to win the whole thing is amazing.”

Wiser finished ahead of SWC rival Claire Daniels (19:04) of New Milford while Amanda Derway of

Simsbury (19:14) finished third. For the Rams, Molly Murphy finished sixth (19:43), Curcio took ninth (20:32) and Lauren Doherty finished 11th (20:35).

“We thought we had a chance coming in but we never thought it would come true,” Curcio said. “We didn’t think we were that good to win states. All of us packed really well.”

But the day belonged to Wiser, who will head into the State Open and New Englands with history in her back pocket.

“I think there’s some spots I definitely could have pushed harder,” Wiser said. “I wanted to see how my times would change from last year, and I know I like this course a lot. This is a good race to prepare for the next ones.”

NOBLE REPEAT

Greenwich’s Mari Noble had to survive a charge from several runners to earn the win in the Class LL race last year — her first in cross country — but the 2019 edition was much easier to navigate for the talented junior.

Noble won her second straight Class title with a time of 18:30, a personal best for the standout. She finished 28 seconds ahead of Manchester’s Kate Hedlund (18:58) as Noble produced the second fastest time of the day behind Wiser.

“I was thrilled with my time,” said Noble, who ran an 18:57 at last year’s Class

LL and a 18:59 at the State Open. “I couldn’t ask for much more. I’m super excited for next week’s (State Open) because there’s going to be some tough competition.”

Hall won the team title despite No. 1 runner Jenna Zydanowicz hobbling to a 26thplace finish after slowing down late. Katherine Sanderson finished seventh to lead the Warriors while Nora Holmes — both sophomores — was ninth. The Warriors scored 77 points while Trumbull — led by Alessandra Zaffina’s sixthplace finish — was second with 97.

“I’d say this race could have gone two ways,” said Noble, who won the FCIAC championship last week. “Either I’d start with Jenna or Kate and run with them for a while. It’s more fun to run with people next to you and it helps a lot. But I think right from the gun because of my start I knew by the time I was ahead, that was my game plan (to get ahead).”

Danbury’s Daniella GrullonPena finished third in 19:10 in what was the sixthfastest time of the day, tied with Ava Gram of Bethel, who won Class M. FCIAC champion Ridgefield took third in the event.

WOLCOTT’S RODRIGEUS DEFENDS SS CROWN

In Class SS, Kathryn Rodrigues of Wolcott completed the 5K race in 18:59 to capture her second straight individual title.

“I was able to win the Class SS title last year, so to return and be able to do it again is just an amazing feeling and a great way to end my senior year,” Rodrigues said. “I was pretty nervous because it is states, but I feel like that helps me to go faster. I’ve been training since the summer for this so it is awesome to have it pay off.”

The senior finished ahead of Immaculate’s Ailene Doherty, who finished in 19:35 for second place.

HaddamKillingworth finished first in the team competition, dethroning defending champion Immaculate by three points.

Meara Bodak and Julia Callis were the catalysts for HaddamKillingworth, placing 7th and 8th.

“I am very proud of the girls from where we started in the season,” HaddamKillingworth coach Matt Diglio said. “We actually raced Immaculate our first race of the year in New York and they crushed us. Our girls were in a rough spot the first month with some injuries and illness, but the past couple of weeks they have come together so for us to do this, the girls rose to the occasion. We have been running as a pack all season long. I could not be more proud of what they’ve done and how hard they’ve worked.”

Lauren D’Amico, Ava Dimatteo and Isabel Berardino all finished in the top 20 as well to overcome an Immaculate team that had four top 10 finishers.