Kathryn Rodrigues and Nick Bendtsen have been doing awfully well for Wolcott cross country in the NVL over the past two falls.
For the second straight year, both Rodrigues and Bendtsen finished first in their respective races during the NVL cross country championships on Friday at Watertown’s Veterans Memorial Park.
Rodrigues, a senior, won in 18:27.7, and it was the second straight year that Rodrigues broke the course record in victory. This time, it was her own record that fell.
Bendtsen, a junior, won in an impressive 15:59.1, which is less than five seconds off of the course record of 15:54.6 set by Naugatuck’s Brian Schumacher in 2013.
For the Wolcott girls, Veranika Hyrn finished 12th overall (21:50) and earned All-NVL Iron Division accolades. When it came to the top Iron Division team, St. Paul claimed that honor. Kailyn Bielecki led the Falcons with a ninth place finish (21:29.6), one spot away from All-NVL honors. Catherine Wootton finished seventh in the Iron, followed by Katherine Mazzarelli in ninth, Elizabeth Speaker in 11th and Sammi Bray in 16th.
In the boys race, Bendtsen was joined on the All-NVL team by Joseph Dane of Holy Cross (seventh, 17:59.6) and Fujie Lan of Sacred Heart (eighth, 18:03.8). The Hearts were the top team in the Brass Division, 29-39, over the Crusaders.
Holy Cross had the top Brass Division girls team, 26-29, over Kennedy.
Here are the locals who made the All-NVL and all-division teams:
All-NVL girls
Kathryn Rodrigues, Wolcott (most outstanding senior and performer)
All-NVL boys
Nick Bendtsen, Wolcott (most outstanding performer)
Joseph Dane, Holy Cross
Fujie Lan, Sacred Heart
All-Brass boys
Alex Brites, Kennedy
Jesse Breidenbach, Sacred Heart
James Bona, Sacred Heart
Matthew Pang, Holy Cross
Alex Valente, Sacred Heart
Diego Cabrera, Crosby
All-Brass girls
Cayla Howard, Holy Cross
Angelica Pena, Kennedy
Hailey Vasas, Kennedy
Raquel Rosa, Holy Cross
Marnie De La Rosa, Crosby
Alyssa Sorracco, Holy Cross
All-Iron boys
Aidan Reilly, St. Paul
All-Iron girls
Kailyn Bielecki, St. Paul
Catherine Wootton, St. Paul
Captions
Top: Kathryn Rodrigues closes in on her second straight win.
Middle: Nick Bendtsen finishes off his second straight win.
Bottom: Holy Cross’ Joseph Dane and St. Paul’s Aidan Reilly run during the boys race. (Photos copyright, Sports on CT-69)
Gallery
Here are my photos from Friday’s championship meet.
