Ledyard boys sweep tri-meet in Strong’s coaching debut

Ledyard — Ledyard opened its boys' cross country season by sweeping Killingly and Woodstock Academy in a tri-meet, marking a successful debut by first-year coach Tim Strong.

The Colonels defeated Killingly 1746 in an Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II matchup and edged Woodstock 26-30 in a non-division race.

Woodstock's Ethan Aspiris was the individual winner in 18.46, but Ledyard took the next three spots as Simon Reichert placed second in 19:03, Connor Doran was third in 19:12 and Albert Franck was fourth in 19:28.

Nicholas Smith (ninth, 20:08) and Nick Johnansson (10th, 20:21) also cracked the Top 10 for Ledyard. In other meets: • St. Bernard picked up a pair of wins, beating Wheeler 22-39 and New London 29-30 in an ECC Division IV meet.

New London's Rashawn Wright won the race in a time of 18:35 and teammate John Mateo was second. New London beat Wheeler 21-34. Michael Carroll of Wheeler was third (19:51) and Sam Davis of St. Bernard was fourth (20:00).

• NFA opened with a pair of wins, beating Waterford 21-40 and Fitch 24-38 in an ECC Division I meet. Fitch's Ian Poe won the meet with a time of 18:33 and Ryan Poe was third for Fitch, which beat Waterford 2136, in 18:49.

NFA's Dylan McGuire was second in 18:42 and teammate Aidan Brown was fourth in 19:01. Aidan Pepin of Waterford was fifth in 19:02.

• Ellis Tech took the top seven places en route to a 15-50 victory over Grasso Tech in the Connecticut Technical Conference. Alfonzo Johnson finished eighth for Grasso Tech in 24:11.

Girls

• NFA used its superior depth, placing six runners in the Top 10, to beat Fitch 20-39 in an ECC Division I race and Waterford 16-47. Fitch also beat Waterford 19-44.

Fitch's Julian Adrian was the individual winner in 22:00 at Mohegan Park, but the Wildcats' Eve Buckridge, Tessa Hospod, Madison Ricketts and Emma Grace Ricketts went 2-3-4-5, respectively. Catherine Saucier was sixth for Waterford.

• St. Bernard took the top five spots en route to a pair of wins. The Saints beat host New London 15-50 and Wheeler 15-45.

Brigid Kunka won the race in 21:21, followed by Serena Britner (23:11), Rachel Kunka (24:17), Lillian Turner (24:58) and Ana Graul (27:36). Wheeler beat New London 15-50 in an ECC Division IV meet. Brittney Riggins of Wheeler was sixth (28:06) and Jazmine Silva was New London's top finisher (ninth, 30:40).

• Ledyard beat Killingly 15-50 in an ECC Division II race and lost to Woodstock 24-39. Woodstock took the top two spots with Lindsey Arends and Stella DiPippo and Ledyard rounded out the top five with Jade Dessaint, Katie Harren and Ally Tran.

• Ellis Tech defeated Grasso Tech 15-50 in the Connecticut Technical Conference. Jewels Walker was Grasso's top finisher in eighth place (36:37).