Derby girls defend title, Kennedy boys victorious

WATERTOWN — Derby’s girls defended their title without their top runner while Kennedy’s boys broke Naugatuck’s fouryear reign at the NVL Cross Country Championships at Watertown’s Veterans’ Memorial Park Wednesday afternoon.

Derby sophomore Sabrina Hanock, last year’s girls champion, suffered a bone bruise three weeks ago. Without her, Rachel Fleischer, Annaly Khanthaphixa, Izzy Chevarella, Nicole Rizzo and Zoe Donnauro ran 3; 4; 5; 6 and 31, nipping second-place Watertown by three points.

Watertown senior Bethany Ottowitz tried to make up for it all by herself, outrunning her closest competitor for the individual crown, Wolcott’s Kathryn Rodrigues, by almost a full minute (19:16.5 to 20:07.7).

“I did lots of work over the summer,” said Ottowitz, who finished fourth a year ago.

On the boys side, Derby’s Ken Little and Kennedy’s Kyle Hotchkiss re-enacted their one-two finish from last year with more fervor than ever.

“He went out fast and I just tried to keep up with him,” said Little, after his first meeting of the season with his fellow senior. “Then we went back and forth.”

Little passed Hotchkiss for the last time at the head of the final straightaway on the 3.1-mile course.

“I went a little harder than I should have at the start,” Hotchkiss said.

The duel pushed both of them to personal best times ( 16:06 to 16:08.4) while Hotchkiss had the satisfaction of leading Alexander Brites (5th); Ivan Meraz (8th); Andry Evangelista (13th) and Arlen Milian (52nd) to the team title.

“(Little and Hotchkiss) are two of the top 10 runners in Connecticut,” Derby Coach Nick Diluggo said.

The top eight overall finishers were named AllNVL for each race.

Torrington senior Ariana Santos, All-NVL last year, was 13th Wednesday (21:52.9) for All-Iron Division honors.

“I’m disappointed,” said Santos. “I didn’t train as much as I should have.”

Raider senior Anna Clinkscales had the opposite reaction, moving up

from 40th a year ago to 23rd on Wednesday.

Torrington’s girls team finished ninth; the boys, led by freshmen Charlie Mathieu (41st) and Sean Power (54th), were 12th.

NVL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Veterans’ Memorial Park, Watertown (3.1 miles)

Team Scores

Girls: 1. Derby 49; 2. Watertown 52; 3. Woodland 75; 4. Wolcott 163; 5. Seymour 170; 6. Holy Cross 187; 7. Waterbury Career Academy 189; 8. Naugatuck 190; 9. Torrington 198; 10. St. Paul Catholic 226; 11. Sacred Heart 273; 12. Kennedy 276.

Boys: 1. Kennedy 80; 2. Woodland 92; 3. Naugatuck 100; 4. Watertown 121; 5. Crosby 135; 6. Holy Cross 161; 7. Seymour 168; 8. Derby 191; 9. St. Paul Catholic 239; 10. Waterbury Career Academy 269; 11. Sacred Heart 294; 12. Torrington 309; 13. Oxford 313; 14. Wolcott 339.

Top 10 Individuals

Girls: 1. Bethany Ottowitz, Watertown, 19:16.5; 2. Kathryn Rodrigues, Wolcott, 20:07.7; Rachel Fleischer, Derby, 20:57.9; 4. Annaly Khanthaphix, Derby, 21:04; 5. Izzy Chevarella, Derby, 21:08.9; 6. Nicole Rizzo, Derby, 21:10.8; 7. Emma Slavin, Woodland, 21:12.1; 8. Nicole Defeo, Watertown, 21:20.6; 9. Jenna French, Sacred Heart, 21:32.5; 10. Abigail Lombardi, Naugatuck, 21:33.

Boys: 1. Ken Little, Derby, 16:06; 2. Kyle Hotchkiss, Kennedy, 16:08.4; 3. Steven Stanley, Derby, 16:44; 4. Matthew Luxedez, Woodland, 16:45.5; 5. Alexander Brites, Kennedy, 16:46.5; 6. Elijah Lewis, Crosby, 17:17.1; 7. Ross Via, Naugatuck, 17:19.6; 8. Ivan Meraz, Kennedy, 17:19.8; 9. Spencer Dodge, Watertown, 17:29.3; 10. Bryan Oliveira, Wilby, 17:34.