H.S. CROSS COUNTRY It’s all relative for Whittakers
Cousins Sam (EL) and Mady (Montville) lead the way during ECC quad-meet
Stonington — The winners Tuesday afternoon have all certainly won before. And as the portion of the season nears where championships are won, there is a chance all of them could be successful in the next segment of the fall, as well.
The individuals: Montville High School's Mady Whittaker and East Lyme's Sam Whittaker, won their respective cross country races in a quad-meet at Stonington. Mady, coming off a hip injury, won the 3.1-mile girls' race in 19 minutes, 54 seconds. Sam ran a personal best 16:38 to finish first in the boys' race.
The Whittakers are cousins — Sam's dad James and Mady's dad Michael are brothers. They're both juniors and both threats to win the Eastern Connecticut Conference championship on Oct. 19 at Norwich Golf Course.
"I was worried about Zak," said Sam Whittaker, who finished ahead of Ledyard's Zak King (17:15). "I took it out a little fast to start. I definitely knew I could beat Zak, but I was worried I wouldn't."
And the teams: Both the East Lyme girls and boys swept their way past the competition. The girls, the defending ECC open champion from a year ago, beat Stonington (21-38), Montville (20-43) and Ledyard in an ECC Division I matchup (16-45). The boys beat Ledyard (21-40) in Division I and also Stonington (15-50) and Montville (15-49).
Both East Lyme teams are 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the division heading into next week's meets against Norwich Free Academy in Norwich. NFA's
NFA's boys are the defending ECC Division I champs, while the girls shared the title with East Lyme.
"You know you have a challenge," said East Lyme's Rasa Kirvelevicius, who was second in the girls' race, speaking of the upcoming meet against NFA. "It's like hitting a pinata. It's hard to break it, but you know if you do, you've got all the goodies inside.
"... If we keep up the mindset and continue with our training, we have a good chance to exceed our goals, but we have to stay focused."
Last year, the East Lyme girls went from a winless dual meet season in 2015 to a jubilant celebration of an ECC title under first-year coach Mike Flynn. The Vikings had five runners in the top 10 Tuesday, with Samantha Lyster (fourth), Claire Mason (fifth), Brie Am Ende (seventh) and Alicia Lan (ninth).
Stonington's Lily Anderson was third, Liz Gray sixth and Lindsay Orr 10th as the Bears defeated Ledyard 22-35 and topped Montville in a Division II meet 20-42. Ledyard's Averie Greeley was eighth, lifting the Colonels past Montville 2138.
"There's a lot of expecations between both parties," East Lyme's Flynn said, asked the difference between last year's coach Flynn and this year's. "They know what they signed up for. Just their dedication and their attitude. There's a different level of focus. They're a laid back group, which allows me to be laid back, but they do know when it's time to get serious."
The East Lyme boys' team upended Ledyard for the first time in more than five years, coach Sam Harfenist, said. In addition to Sam Whittaker, Ryan McCauley was third for the Vikings in 17:26, followed by Chris Abbey fourth in 17:34, Eli Montleon sixth, Fisher Macklin seventh, Noah Barnhart eighth and Ben Rukundo 10th.
Ledyard's Jacob Money was fifth, as the Colonels topped Stonington 25-31 and Montville 22-33, and Montville's Jayden Colon ninth. Stonington defeated Division II foe Montville 22-35.
Harfenist said Whittaker used 2015 Class MM state champion Vann Moffett, who was a senior at East Lyme when Whittaker was a freshman, as a role model.
"I think he is really cognizant of where Vann was at all the certain grade levels," Harfenist said. "His shirt says, 'Moffett II on it or Moffett 2.0 or something like that. He is very interested in trying to set his goals. He's also always very aware he could lose to people. He's aware nothing is given."
Whittaker began gaining confidence in the spring during a regular-season meet at Westerly, beating Windham's Alex Korczynski — later the Class M 1,600 champion and second in the 3,200 — in the 3,000 meters. Whittaker was sixth in Class MM in the 1,600 (4:29.68) and fourth in the 3,200 (9:59.64).
"That boosted a lot of confidence," Whittaker said of beating Korczynski. "At the end of the season, I ran a 4:29 at the class meet, then at the State Open I ran the 3,200 and set a PR (9:47.99). I came into this season feeling really confident. I know if I have a good race one of those days (in the postseason), I could do really good."