The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Xavier defends State Open crown
MANCHESTER — The Xavier boys cross country team defended its State Open title Thursday at Wickham Park by placing its top four finishers in the Top 14. Robbie Cozean took third in 16 minutes, 11 seconds, Peter Schulten finished fifth in 16:16, Dillon Selfors was ninth in 16:27 while Will Curran finished 14th in 16:35.
“We came through and our top four did phenomenal, that was the punch,” said Schulten. “It was hot; it was a shock because it’s been cold lately. You felt a little dry mouth and extra sweating.”
The Falcons were ranked No. 1 in the state from the start of the year, and also appeared in national rankings. The pressure of being the top squad was there, but didn’t deter the Falcons from delivering another title.
“The most challenging part was knowing we were the favorite,” Xavier coach Chris Stonier said. “There’s the coaches polls, these supposed calculation predictions and they put you as the favorite by far. That adds a lot of pressure because the athletes (see that). They were very mature with how they handled that information; we have a couple of great leaders who know how to temper those emotions.”
New Milford senior Eli Nahom won his first State Open
title, crossing the line in 15:54. He finished fourth a year ago and once again made his move up the green monster despite planning to do so later in the race.
“I wasn’t planning on making my move on the hill because they know that’s my thing, I’ve done it a couple of times already,” Nahom said. “I was planning on going later in the race but I saw they started to fall back when I picked up the pace.”
Hall’s Trey Cormier finished fourth in 16:15 to help the Warriors earn second place as a team by just one point over Tolland (122). Staples (123) was a point behind the Eagles in fourth place.
Eddie Nicholas of Nonnewaug took sixth in 16:20, passing Prep’s Azaan Dawson (16:20) at the finish. Hall’s Miller Anderson finished eighth in 16:24.
The New England championships are set for Saturday in Manchester, N.H. The top 25 finishers from each race qualified for the race, as well as the top six teams.
DANBURY EDGES IMMACULATE
The Danbury and Immaculate girls cross country teams waited anxiously in their own huddles for results to be tabulated after the State Open was run Thursday at Wickham Park.
The schools — which are separated by just three miles — knew it would come down to the slimmest of margins to determine who was the best team in
the best city in the state. And it was.
Just one point.
The Hatters claimed their first State Open title with 115 points, one ahead of Immaculate (116), which was also after its first title. The Class LL champions edged the Class SS champions for the top prize as several spots were contested at the finish line.
“We weren’t really expecting it to come down to one point, but we knew it was going to be a tough race with Immaculate,” said Hatters senior Cassandra Sturdevant. “But it’s exciting that it came down to one point. We knew we had a real good shot after the past couple of weeks; we’ve been working hard every day in practice, so it was in the back of our minds that we had a shot of winning.”
A seventh-place finish from Lauren Moore (19:21) helped propel the Hatters to the title. Alex Chakar (29th, 20:19), Daniella Grullon Pena (31st, 20:22), Sturdevant (42nd, 20:37) and Meilee Kry (20:54) ran close enough together to finish high up the order.
The first State Open capped off an outstanding season for Danbury, which won its first FCIAC title and first Class LL title in 26 years.
Pomperaug sophomore Kate Wiser won the race by over a minute, crossing the line in just under 18 minutes (17:59). Her time was 43 seconds quicker than her second-place finish in the event last year, and she will head to next week’s New England championships in position to challenge.