By Michael Letendre
MANCHESTER – When the scholastic cross country season commences every year, training for the tremendous sport starts in hot, humid weather.
And when the month of October begins to wind down — just in time for the class championship meets – the weathers shift into a cooler mode.
But that’s not what happened this past Saturday at the 2023 CIAC championships when the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern boys squads traveled to the state title events from Wickham Park in Manchester.
With temperatures that peaked in the low 80s, the day was a miserable one for all the runners involved.
And that led to numerous athletes needing medical assistance the entire day with the CIAC eventually postponing the latter meets when ambulances and safety personnel were not available.
But for Central’s Patrick Wininger, the senior star made a tremendous 28th place showing at the Class L event.
‘Trick’ ended the race with a sterling time of 18:11 in a less than ideal environment.
Rowan Hennessey placed 63rd overall in a time of 19:16 while Naythan Pellerin (101st, 20:47) was hanging around the top-100 at the competitive event.
Also for the Rams, Noah Pellerin (105th, 21:08), Braydan Dwyer (109th, 21:21), Aiden Georgakopoulos (114th, 21:40) and Nick DiMatteo (118th, 22:01) rounded out the day for the program from Central.
“It was a tough day out on the cross-country course today,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk. “I had warned our kids that it would be unseasonably hot, but no one expected what happened out there today. Kids were dropping during and after the races. Considering that, our kids ran ok. All but one finished. The Bristol Central cross-country boys [team] ran tough led once again by Captain Patrick Wininger.”
Newtown’s Soheib Dissa won the race in 15:59 while New Milford’s Collin Walsh (16:08) was the Class L runner up.
For the boys at Eastern, the squad was entangled in the Class MM championship meet as Xavier (49 points) won the bout.
New Milford took second place with 68 points, Conard (130) was a distant third while Cheshire (163) and Darien (165) ended in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Lancers ended the afternoon in 15th place behind a 361-point showing.
Sophomore Jase Koczur was tremendous on the course, taking 47th place in 19:19 while fellow second year competitor Cole Beland (70th, 19:59) finished the event in under twenty minutes.
The Lancers core group of Kyle Kelley (73rd, 20:02), Aidan Gezelman (80th, 20:10), Jonathan Casarola (91st, 20:50), Dylan Prince (101st, 21:35) and Szymon Winiarczyk (118th, 22:31) did well in not so favorable conditions on the course.
Jack Mattingly (Edwin O. Smith) won the race with a sterling time of 16:36 while East Lyme’s Sean McCauley (runner-up, 16:42) was just six seconds behind.
2023 Cross Country Class L Championships – Boys Race
from Wickham Park, Manchester
Race winner: Xavier – 49 Points
Runner-up: New Milford – 68 Points
The rest of the Top 10: 3. Conard (130 points), 4. Cheshire (163), 5. Darien (165), 6. Simsbury (167), 7. New Canaan (169), 8. Newton (170), 9. Amity (185), 10. Wilton (227).
Bristol Central Boys — 14th overall (406 points)
28. Patrick Wininger 18:11
63. Rowan Hennessey 19:16
101. Naythan Pellerin 20:47
105. Noah Pellerin 21:08
109. Braydan Dwyer 21:21
114. Aiden Georgakopoulos 21:40
118. Nick DiMatteo 22:01
2023 Cross Country Class MM Championships — Boys Race
from Wickham Park, Manchester
Race winner: East Lyme — 43 points (first four runners finished in the top ten)
Runner-up: Edwin O. Smith – 73 points
The rest of the Top 10: 3. Guilford (127 points), 4. Fitch (146), 5. Avon (159), 6. Woodstock Academy (175), 7. Bethel (194), 8. Pomperaug (202), 9. Notre Dame-West Haven (252), 10. Wethersfield (298).
Bristol Eastern Boys — 15th overall (361 points)
47. Jase Koczur 19:19
70. Cole Beland 19:59
73. Kyle Kelley 20:02
80. Aidan Gezelman 20:10
91. Jonathan Casarola 20:50
101. Dylan Prince 21:35
118. Szymon Winiarczyk 22:31
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