Bristol Eastern’s boys cross country squad breaks 20-year hex with 7-point win over Bristol Central in city series bout from Rockwell Park on Thursday

By Michael Letendre

The last time a Bristol Eastern cross-country team was able to topple the powerful program from Bristol Central was back in 2003.

For the past 19 years, the Rams have won every Bristol City Series title bout — completely dominating the competition between Eastern and St. Paul Catholic.

But on Thursday, when Central, Eastern and St. Paul Catholic gathered for the annual race, the Kingstreeters finally hit the pay window for a long overdue collection.

Eastern swept the day, posting a 24-31 victory over rival Bristol Central while spinning St. Paul Catholic 20-40.

The Rams ended up defeating the Falcons 21-39.

“It feels awesome,” said Eastern coach Paul Ryskowski of the win. “I’m so happy for those guys. I mean, they have worked so hard all summer, all season. Last year, we lost by a point and since then, it’s really been their goal to come here and finish the job.”

“They raced great.”

Individually, the day belonged to Central senior Patrick Wininger.

He led from wire-to-wire, squaring away a tremendous time of 18:13 as his first-place finish marked the 20th straight meet that the individual boy’s championship went to a harrier from Central.

It was Wininger’s first-ever title as former winner Frankie Porrini — who took the past two City Series championships — was looking on with pride.

“Honestly, when a really think about it, I look at myself back in freshman year and I think about who I was person, as a student, as an athlete and I look at myself now and I never would have thought in a million years that I would be winning the Bristol City Championship,” said Wininger. “It’s a great honor. It’s a great honor to be the twentieth straight Bristol Central champion for the race. I feel very honored, and I feel very blessed on this day.”

“It’s a very awesome feeling.”

But as a team, the day belonged to the Lancers as five of the first nine runners who crossed the finish line were wearing blue and white colors.

*BCHS’s Patrick Wininger continues BCHS tradition of having a runner finish first each year over the past 20. | Herve*

Matt Doherty (18:46.6), an outstanding senior from St. Paul Catholic, earned second place, never letting Wininger get completely away until late.

From there, Eastern salted away the title.

Outstanding sophomore Jase Koczur (third place, 19:24.6) held off fellow teammate Cole Beland (fourth, 19:27), making a huge splash in the end to get the Lancers’ second runner across.

Central’s Naythan Pellerin (fifth, 19:30) is an exciting freshman who took fifth place while Eastern junior Kyle Kelley (sixth, 19:46) and fellow junior Brendan Tartarelli (seventh, 19:59.7) were the third and fourth runners to hit the finish line for the Lancers.

Central senior Rowan Hennessey (20:01.7) ended up in eighth place and to make it academic, Eastern junior Aidan Gezelman (20:38.5) finished in ninth — helping the Kingstreeters win the city series championship for the first time in 20 years.

“We’ve been fortunate. We were going for our twentieth [straight] team championship today,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk. “We missed out on that, but we had our twentieth individual win in a row. That really says a lot about our program.”

“So, I’m really proud of that.”

Two freshmen finished after Gezelman with Cody Wilson (St. Paul Catholic, 10th, 20:58.3) and Noah Pellerin (Bristol Central, 11th, 20:58.3) placing extremely well in their first ever City Series challenge while Central’s Nicola DiMatteo (12th, 21:12) showed a little grit on the course.

Eastern’s Dylan Prince (13th, 21:19.8), Central’s Braydan Dwyer (14th, 21:35) and St. Paul Catholic’s Aiden Conklin (15th, 21:36.4) helped to round out a tough top 15.

The race was a good one as Central truly pushed Eastern on the course, but the Lancers were able to triumph in the end.

“Hats off to Bristol Central,” said Ryskowski. “They really made it tough.”

Over the first bridge for the first time around the course, Wininger was already comfortably in front of everyone while Doherty and Koczur were hanging around.

Then there was a three-pack of runners from both Central and Eastern that eventually dissolved a bit while Wilson was just behind.

Wininger was in complete control after running back towards the amphitheater for the second time as the group behind him spaced out somewhat.

On the bridge towards the skate park for the second time, Wininger’s competition was not in earshot.

The same crew was in tow as Doherty was ahead of the pack, battling for second place.

To end the event, Wininger, proudly displaying his Bristol Central jersey, was an easy winner in 18:13 while Doherty trailed about half-a-minute behind to make a great finish as the runner-up.

But spots three, four, six, seven and nine belonged to the Lancers – securing the seven-point win over Central – as Eastern earned a well-deserved City Series Championship.

“I’m so happy for our guys,” said Ryskowski. “They deserve it. I’m just happy that they could win one.”

Boys 2023 City Series Cross Country – Thursday, October 12

BRISTOL EASTERN 24, BRISTOL CENTRAL 31

BRISTOL CENTRAL 21, ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 39

BRISTOL EASTERN 20, ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 40

from Rockwell Park – 3.1 Miles

Individual Results – Top 25

City Series Champion – Patrick Wininger (Bristol Central), 18:13

Runner-up – Matt Doherty (St. Paul Catholic), 18:46.6

3. Jase Koczur (Bristol Eastern), 19:24.6

4. Cole Beland (Bristol Eastern), 19:27

5. Naythan Pellerin (Bristol Central), (19:30)

6. Kyle Kelley (Bristol Eastern), 19:46

7. Brendan Tartarelli (Bristol Eastern), 19:59.7

8. Rowan Hennessey (Bristol Central), 20:01.7

9. Aidan Gezelman (Bristol Eastern), 20:38.5

10. Cody Wilson (St. Paul Catholic), 20:58.3

11. Noah Pellerin (Bristol Central), 20:58.3

12. Nicola DiMatteo (Bristol Central), 21:12

13. Dylan Prince (Bristol Eastern), 21:19.8

14. Braydan Dwyer (Bristol Central), 21:35

15. Aiden Conklin (St. Paul Catholic), 21:36.4

16. Jonathan Casarola (Bristol Eastern), 21:44

17. Aiden Georgakopoulos (Bristol Central), 21:52.7

18. James Rinaldi (St. Paul Catholic), 21:58

19. Beckham Barse (Bristol Central), 22:07

20. Szymon Winiarczyk (Bristol Eastern), 22:23.9

21. Jacson Deveau (Bristol Central), 22:40.5

22. Thomas Stout (Bristol Eastern), 23:07.6

23. Tyghe Collins (Bristol Eastern), 23:09.5

24. Christian Ferraro (Bristol Eastern), 23:11

25. Alexander Mulligan (Bristol Central), 23:22.5

All TBE readers, supporters and donors

The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.

Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.

Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.