BRISTOL – The Bristol public school system has some very good varsity cross country programs within its city limits this year.
The Bristol Central boys program, led by outstanding senior Nate DeAngelo, is one of the elite runners in the state this season.
Ranked 10th in a preseason poll by ct.milesplit.com, DeAngelo already established a new course record at Rockwell Park this year and has continued to improve as the season progressed.
Central defeated Eastern back on October 7 and, once again, DeAngelo blasted the standard at Rockwell Park.
Frankie Porrini, a very good sophomore, has been one of the top runners for the Rams’ program over the last two seasons as well.
On that same October day against the Lancers, the girls program from Central was narrowly defeated by Eastern.
This season, Central’s program is highlighted by seniors Natalia Popielarz and Bella Crandall.
But the Lancers have a trio of excellent athletes that were all in action on Wednesday, October 21 at Lewis Mills high school in a Central Connecticut Conference, Region B clash.
And the girls from Eastern just missed upsetting the Spartans, falling 28-31 in a tightly contested race.
Junior Fiona Gallagher and senior Avery Braccia are an excellent one-two punch and duo finished the race against Mills in the top two spots.
Gallagher won the event in 21:09 while Braccia finished as the runner up with a time of 21:56.
In a solid fifth place showing, Eastern senior Sophia Andrade ended the fray in 22:36 as the Lancers came extremely close in taking the race.
On the boys side, the Lancers didn’t have any problem on the course, spinning the Spartans by a 20-42 final.
Justin Cascio might have won the race for Lewis Mills (16:36), but it was all Bristol Eastern over the next seven spots of the event.
Sophomore Dominic Tartarelli came in second place in 18:43 while Logan Crowley, a talented junior, finished in third at 18:43.
Junior Carter Harris (18:53) earned fourth place, senior Ean Newman (19:06) was fifth, junior Dante Marciano (19:18) took sixth, senior Gabe Bartolome (19:26) ended up in seventh while sophomore Aidan Tartarelli (19:27) rounded out the top eight as the Lancers were sharp on the road.
Bristol Central travels to Plainville this Friday for a clash against the Blue Devils while hosting Lewis Mills on October 28 and finishing up against Farmington (November 4) on the road.
Bristol Eastern also has two road courses to tackle over the coming weeks.
The Lancers are at New Britain next Wednesday at Stanley Quarter Park, while a trip to Avon on November 4 is the last regular season meet on the docket for the program.
