Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern competed in the CCC Cross Country Championships on Tuesday at Wickham Park in Manchester.
To no one’s surprise, the Ram boys wrapped up the South Region Patriot Division title behind a strong performance from their Top 5 runners. In fact, the Central boys claimed the top four spots in the South Region and wound up finishing third overall in the CCC as a team.
“The CCC is a tough conference, we knew Hall and Tolland had really strong teams, so to be able to finish third to them is a big deal for us,” coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk said following the meet. “We’re feeling pretty good. We don’t take anything for granted, we want to step up to the line race-ready, but it’s a nice confidence booster with a week and a half to go before Class L.”
There was a big surprise on the girls side in the South Region. Eastern salvaged a split of the Patriot Division championship with Central by putting together a great effort. The Lancers needed to go 5-1, and they needed some other things to happen as well.
“We knew Berlin was going to win in the South because they’re that good,” Eastern coach Kyle Fuller said. “We knew that for us to be conference champs, we would have to be second, Middletown third, Central fourth or lower, and it just happened to work out that way.”
Here’s what happened on both sides:
Boys
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Nate DeAngelo, Mark Petrosky, Pacifico Flores and Devin Flores claimed the first four spots in the South Region for Central. Jose Ramirez took seventh place.
“My Top 5 has been really impressive lately,” Stafford-Kirk said. “Mark and Nate are a really strong 1-2 punch for us, but man, with Jose and the Flores brothers coming in 3-4-5 and kind of mixing that up, it has been really nice.”
Ian Kreciglowa, whose score didn’t count toward the team total (only the Top 5 do), finished 12th.
In the overall CCC meet, DeAngelo was 12th, followed by Petrosky in 21st, Pacifico Flores in 22nd, Devin Flores in 25th, and Ramirez in 32nd.
The Eastern boys finished fourth out of six teams in the South Region. Ben Wadowski was 13th in the South Region, and the first Lancer to cross the finish line. He was followed by Nick Provenzano in 26th, Sean Sullivan in 28th, Gabe Bartolome in 29th, and Zach Martin in 30th.
“All the guys ran really hard today, they ran really well,” Fuller said.
Girls
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Avery Braccia led a big effort by Eastern in the South Region and took fourth place. Fiona Gallagher was 11th, followed by Kelsie St. Germain in 12th, Paige McLaughlin in 15th, and Audrey Perry in 21st. It was a team effort that earned the Lancers a share of the division title.
“Avery is good to begin with,” Fuller said. “She ran strong, I still think she has a ton of potential in her. We just have to tap into it. Fiona, our little freshman girl, ran outstanding today, one of the best races I’ve seen her run all year. I think we’re peaking at the right time.”
All of the Top 5 finishes were crucial to Eastern, which took second place in the South Region by a single point over Middletown (63-64). No second place finish, no shared division crown. It was that simple, and the Lancers did what they had to do.
“Paige McLaughlin, she transferred from volleyball to cross country,” Fuller said. “That was the best race of her season. She hunted kids down that she needed to hunt down. She’s got that toughness about her, she did great.”
For the Central girls, there was disappointment. Injuries have been a problem, but Stafford-Kirk didn’t use that as an excuse for why the Rams lost out on sole possession of the division title.
“It wasn’t our best day, we gave one up to Eastern and Middletown today, two teams we had beat in head-to-head competition, so I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but our girls always bounce back well, they’re tough,” Stafford-Kirk said. “We’ll just have to come back and try to have a strong race next week.”
Natalie Dube was the top Central finisher in the South Region at seventh place. Marisa Heller was 16th, followed by Isabella Crandall in 19th and Kiara Suazo in 20th. Natalia Popielarz, the top Ram runner during the regular season, ran with a nagging hip injury and finished 22nd.
What’s next?
Central and Eastern will compete in the Class L state championship meet on Saturday, Oct. 27, at Wickham Park. The boys race goes off at 9:15 a.m., followed by the girls at 9:45. The Rams will have to battle state No. 1 Xavier, but they still have a legitimate chance at a state championship if all goes well.
Gallery
Here are my photos from the CCC meet.