It’s been an amazing couple of weeks for Wolcott junior cross country runner Kathryn Rodrigues.
Rodrigues won the NVL girls individual championship last Wednesday at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Watertown. On Friday afternoon, Rodrigues added a Class SS state championship to her growing resume.
Rodrigues finished the course at Manchester’s Wickham Park in 19:02, 31 seconds faster than the second place finisher. Rodrigues’ time was actually about 30 seconds slower than her winning time at the NVL championship (18:32.8), but it didn’t matter on this day. Rodrigues had a strong lead by the time the first loop of the course was completed, and she was able to keep plenty of space between her and those chasing her.
Both championship victories were firsts for Rodrigues. She finished eighth in Class M as a sophomore and 10th in ‘M’ as a freshman. In the NVL championships, Rodrigues was second as a sophomore to Watertown senior Bethany Ottowitz. As a freshman, she placed third behind Derby runners Sabrina Hanock and Nicole Rizzo.
For the last two weeks, no one has finished ahead of Rodrigues in a championship race. Next up for the Wolcott junior is the State Open, scheduled for this coming Friday at Wickham Park.
GALLERY
Check out my photos from Friday’s state championship races, including a couple of Rodrigues.
