By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The St. Paul Catholic girls cross country team hasn’t always enjoyed the best of luck at the annual Bristol city series cross country event.

But this time around, a talented group of athletes took the Johnie Floyd Memorial Cross Country Course at Dewitt Page Park with zest and for the first time in recent memory, defeated both Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern on Thursday.

St. Paul Catholic turned away Central 23-34 while spinning Eastern 24-32.

The Lancers were able to topple the Rams, 25-32, for a split on the afternoon.

“The girls ran as expected,” said Eastern coach Kyle Fuller of his squad. “There were no big surprises there.”

Eastern won the city series event back in 2019 while Central’s Natalia Popielarz was the winner in 21:39 from Rockwell Park.

The Falcons’ Madalyne Bielecki was sensational on the hilly course as the freshmen competitor bested the competition with a first place time of 23:53.

And the city series champion has another three years to build upon a growing legacy.

Eastern’s Fiona Gallagher also ran well on her home course, snaring a time of 24:45 as the runner up.

And the Central girls, an extremely young crew, made the race more than competitive as Maura Waters and Sophia Stark both placed among the top-six at the event.

“I had seven girls racers today, six sophomores and a freshman,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk. “We’re young so that’s nice.”

Gallagher was off and running to begin things as the lead group came through the pool parking lot.

And Bielecki wasn’t far behind.

Maura Waters and Sophia Stark were hanging in third and fourth place, respectively, St. Paul Catholic’s Catherine Wootton and Charlotte Jennings were a little behind while Lauren Ayotte was steady in seventh place.

The athletes flipped positions near the ski lodge as Bielecki made her move past Gallagher as pavement turned into dirt, grass, and trees.

Waters was running well in third place and Wootton was nipping at her tail.

And on the final pass through the pool parking lot, Bielecki had a huge lead heading down the Page Park hill towards the tennis courts as the competitors needed to run back up the opposite side to the finish line.

Bielecki easily won the event while Gallagher – hanging tough – made her second place finish.

Waters had an excellent finish, placing third in 25:04 while Wootton (26:19) ended the challenging course in fourth.

“Waters has been our number one for most of the year,” said Stafford-Kirk. “She’s only a freshman. We’re really happy with her performance.”

Ayotte pushed her way into the top five, earning fifth in 26:38 – working her way through the pack with a tremendous push and finish.

“She ran well,” said Fuller of Ayotte. “Lauren’s a good solid runner. She gives you everything’s she’s got on that day. You never have to worry about her.”

Stark earned sixth place in 27:16 – finishing up a very solid top-six pack of athletes.

Rounding out the top-10 was Jennings (7th, 27:43) and Eastern’s Shillelagh Gallagher (8th, 27:58) while the Falcons’ Elizabeth Speaker (9th, 28:05) and the Rams’ Katie Tran (10th, 28:19) all ran well.

“Our two and three [Stark and Tran] are sophomores battling out there,” said Stafford-Kirk.

And while the Falcons took the city series bout this time around, the actual outcome wasn’t all that shocking to the coach of the Eastern program.

“I thought maybe the positioning” would be different said Fuller. “We thought the Central girls would be a little different position than what St. Paul’s was going to be in. So when all the girls were coming through, the race numbers where the people were finishing, was a little different in my eyes than we anticipated. Good or bad, it really doesn’t matter.”

Girls City Series Cross Country – Thursday, October 14 

ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 23, BRISTOL CENTRAL 34

ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 24, BRISTOL EASTERN 32

BRISTOL EASTERN 25, BRISTOL CENTRAL 32

from Johnie Floyd Memorial Cross Country Course at Page Park – 3.1 miles

Individual Results – Top 15

City Series Champion – Madalyne Bielecki (St. Paul Catholic), 23:53 

Runner-up – Fiona Gallagher (Bristol Eastern), 24:45

3. Maura Waters (Bristol Central), 25:04

4. Catherine Wootton (St. Paul Catholic), 26:19

5. Lauren Ayotte (Bristol Eastern), 26:38

6. Sophia Stark (Bristol Central), 27:16

7. Charlotte Jennings (St. Paul Catholic), 27:43

8. Shillelagh Gallagher (Bristol Eastern), 27:58

9. Elizabeth Speaker (St. Paul Catholic), 28:05

10. Katie Tran (Bristol Central), 28:19

11. Calista Oria (St. Paul Catholic), 28:40

12. Isabell Fulton (Bristol Eastern), 29:22

13. Johannie Juarez (Bristol Central), 29:51

14. Bella Peterson (St. Paul Catholic), 29:54

15. Rita Gao (Bristol Eastern), 30:17