There was a local winner in both of the NVL cross country championship races on Wednesday at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Watertown.
Both of those winners were from Wolcott, and they were the first of four local runners who placed in the Top 10 in each of the varsity races. For the boys, Wolcott sophomore Nick Bendsten won the race in a time of 16:32.4, and he was followed by Kennedy junior standout Alex Brites in second at 17:10.7. Crosby senior Elijah Lewis was fourth in 17:26.7 while St. Paul junior Aidan Reilly took eighth place in 17:37.7.
In the girls varsity race, Wolcott junior Kathryn Rodrigues torched the field with a winning time of 18:32.8 (second place was 20:06.5). St. Paul junior Kailyn Bielecki took sixth place in 20:53.5 while Wolcott freshman Veranika Hern was ninth in 21:18.3. Sacred Heart senior Jenna French finished 10th in 21:22.8.
Kennedy had the best team finish locally for the boys, taking fourth with a score of 135. St. Paul was fifth with 139, followed by Holy Cross in sixth with 181. Sacred Heart took eighth (211), followed by Wolcott in ninth (235), Waterbury Career Academy in 10th (262) and Crosby in 12th (288).
On the girls side, Wolcott finished fifth with 135 and was the top local team. St. Paul was sixth (142) and was followed by Sacred Heart in seventh (197), WCA in 10th (236) and Kennedy in 11th (241).
Top finisher (boys)
Here’s the top overall finisher for each local team:
Wolcott — Bendtsen (1st); Kennedy — Brites (2nd); Crosby — Lewis (4th); St. Paul — Reilly (8th); WCA — Harrison Foley (16th); Holy Cross — Ben Bowler (19th); Sacred Heart — Jackie Lan (27th).
Top finisher (girls)
Here’s the top overall finisher for each local team:
Wolcott — Rodrigues (1st); St. Paul — Bielecki (6th); Sacred Heart — French (10th); Holy Cross — Brayton (16th); WCA — Jonna Pierce (27th); Kennedy — Jordyn Wilson (39th).
Full results
Check out mysportsresults.com
