Ridgefield duo pushes each other to new heights
Charles Namiot, Charlie King help Tigers top rival Staples
Last fall as juniors, Charles Namiot and Charlie King came up just short of delivering Ridgefield cross country its first FCIAC championship since 2013.
Ridgefield was the runner-up in that race behind Staples, a team that had just claimed its fourth straight FCIAC title.
When it was announced that the 2020 season would be had, the duo of best friends knew they would get a chance at redemption.
Though there were no state meets offered and the FCIAC was split into three races, Ridgefield and Sta
ples would face off again.
In a year that was filled with disappointment for
many, Namiot and King capped off their high school careers not only as GameTimeCT 1st Team All-State Selections, but as FCIAC champions for the first time.
On November 4th, King took first place in the FCIAC Central Championship while Namiot finished second just 1.4 seconds behind him.
With the help of four other top-ten finishers, Ridgefield cruised to the title over Staples as the official season came to a close.
“It felt good to go out together on top,” Namiot said. “Staples had been winning for so long, and I really like those guys but it felt good to be on top. They were so dominant in the past few years and this year we had that.”
The final race marked the end of a journey that took off throughout King and Namiot’s sophomore year.
“It has been a really crazy journey together,” King said. “Coming into our freshman year, both of us were far from remarkable at running track and cross country. It wasn’t until our sophomore year’s where we discovered our love for the sport.”
Since that year, the best friends went from relatively unknown to one of the most dangerous one-two punches in the state, and they have each other to thank for it.
“We have been really close since sophomore year,” Namiot said. “That year we both got a lot faster and I think our friendship drove that. It had been really great to have him on the team, especially as a training partner.”
That season Namiot finished 22nd in the FCIAC Championship with a time of 16:42 while King placed
37th in 17:03.
Namiot finished 38th in the Class LL Championship and 62nd in the State Open that year while King placed
67th in Class LL and 99th in the Open.
“I remember Chucky (Namiot) got down into the sixteen-minute range his sophomore year,” King said. “That same year I was able to get down to a 4:24 mile in outdoor track.”
It was the first of many improvements that the pair would make together.
In the first race of the
2019 cross country season, it became clear that something special was happening at Ridgefield.
“We knew we had a solid team, so we put in a lot of work over the summer together,” Namiot said. “We were confident we were going to do well.”
In that race, Namiot ran a 16:37 5K to take sixth place while King finished in
16:38 for seventh place as the duo helped Ridgefield win its heat at the New Balance Shore Coaches Invitational in New Jersey.
The training paid off as the two cross country clones used each other for simultaneous improvement.
“We train so well together in cross country because our skillsets are very close in the 5K,” Namiot said. “We’re usually just a couple of seconds off if you look at our results.”
After finishing second as a team in the FCIAC championship, fueled by Namiot’s 16:11 ninth-place finish and King’s 16:19 twelfth-place finish, Ridgefield was considered one of the top teams in the state.
Ridgefield finished third in the 2019 Class LL Championship, led once again by Namiot and King who both crossed the finish line in exactly 16:35 for 14th and
15th place.
In the State Open, Ridgefield placed third again, but it was Namiot who made the largest impact individually
Namiot was named a GameTimeCT 1st Team All-State selection after a
12th-place finish in 16:35 for the second consecutive race.
King finished 33rd in that race with a time of 16:56 as the two left a strong impression heading into their senior season.
Though King and Namiot did not get a chance to see where they ranked across the state as seniors, the pair picked up right where they left off.
In Ridgefield’s opening meet against Wilton, Namiot placed second in 17:15 with King just behind him in 17:15.01 for third.
Five days later in a dual meet with Staples, Namiot and King placed first and second with times of 16:23.4 and 16:23.7.
Ridgefield made easy work of its FCIAC opponents in the regular season and completed the season on a high note, taking the FCIAC Central title over Staples.
King was crowned the FCIAC Central individual champion, finishing in
16:09.8 while Namiot crossed second in 16:11.2.
Though this powerhouse Ridgefield team may have had a shot at the Class LL Championship or the State Open, Namiot and King took advantage of the opportunities they were given to end their high school careers on a high.
“It is really neat looking back at our careers,” King said. “Seeing how it all started and how it all came together.”
Namiot also finished 11th in both the Northeast XC Club Championships and the East Coast Championships as an unaffiliated runner to close out his cross country career, but he and King look forward to potentially running together in indoor and outdoor track as a grand finale.