By Michael Letendre

The Bristol Edition continues to highlight Bristol Central’s Class L state championship cross country team from 2010, putting together the exploits of Mike Duprey, Jacob Eschner, Connor Kelley, Ethan Washburn, Jake Mancini, and Spencer Johnson’s run to the title.

The program’s talent was undeniable that year and head coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk felt that this special group was destined for some big things that season.

“We knew from day one of that season we could win the Class L title,” said Stafford-Kirk. “I can be very superstitious at times and could never bring myself to say outright that we could win it but we knew it.”

Was Central challenged at all during regular season competition in 2010?

At 16-0 overall and a perfect 14-0 in CCC South meets, that ledger painted a dominating picture but the team was pushed on more than one occasion – including Central’s first meet of the season.

The Rams opened the year against Conard in a CCC Interdivisional tilt from Bristol on Tuesday, September 14.

That was the day Kelley established a new school record at Rockwell Park as he crossed the finish line in 17:15 – besting the old standard by better than seven seconds.

Duprey (17:56) and Eschner (18:07) came in third and fourth, respectively, as the Rams knocked off the Chieftains by a 25-30 final.

Conard was an excellent program that season as the squad won the boys CCC West title that year.

The bar was set extremely high and the Rams passed that first test with flying colors as the Chieftains were the perfect opponent to open with.

And while Central’s meets in CCC South action weren’t that close, the Rams used several invitational events as a measuring stick to prepare for the postseason.

The first challenge came on September 18 when Central faced steep competition at the Riverfront Festival – placing third overall from Riverside Park in Hartford.

Brookline high school (MA) won the event with 44 points while Xavier of Middletown – the eventual Class LL runner-up – came in second place and was just a point off the winning mark.

Central (67) did very well behind a fourth place finish from Kelley (16:07.3), 11th by Duprey (16:38) while Eschner (16:49.1) was one position behind.

Hubbard Park in Meriden was Central’s next stop on September 21 when the Rams battled Bulkeley and Platt in a CCC South tilt.

And both squads fell to Central via duplicate 15-50 scores.

At that meet, Kelley, Duprey, and Eschner all crossed the finish line in 17:43 – always a remarkable sight to see – while Washburn placed fourth in 18:18 and Johnson took fifth in 18:41 for the sweep.

Four days later, Central was intrenched in a cross country battle from the Stratton Brook Invite, nearly taking the event.

It was a sweltering 85 degrees that day on September 25 but the Rams pushed through, nabbing three of the top four spots in the race.

In fact, Canton was just one point better as Central earned second place with a score of 75.

Kelley (2nd place, 17:14), Duprey (third, 17:21), and Eschner (fourth, 17:33.9) all finished in the top-five as the Rams just missed out in winning the event.

Canton was another top-10 team in the state – winning the Class SS championship that year.

And then on September 29, Central was back at its home base – Rockwell Park – hosting Berlin and Maloney in another CCC South confrontation.

The Berlin/Maloney combination of CCC South teams didn’t fare any better than the rest as the Rams were 15-50 winners over Maloney while Berlin (15-47) nearly fell by the same score.

Kelley re-established his course record at Rockwell, winning the race in 17:09.7.

Also for the Rams that day, Duprey (17:17.9), Eschner (18:09), Washburn (18:10.8) and Spencer (18:56.6) all helped Central win over the blowout.

Central moved to 5-0 overall, 4-0 in CCC South action as the Rams were undefeated going into the month of October.

In the next story in the TBE, the month of October will be broken down as the Bristol Central cross country team prepared for its biggest month ever in program history.