By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol City Series cross country race made a triumphant return in 2021.
COVID might have knocked out the 2020 contest but it was back – and better than ever – in 2021 at the hilly course at Page Park this past Thursday.
In all, nearly seventy competitors took to the course for both the boys and girls races with Central’s Frankie Porrini (18:21) winning for the boys and St. Paul Catholic’s Madalyne Bielecki (23:53) taking the event for the girls.
The only thing different at Page was the newly revamped finish line, a bit remodeled due to the pool project.
All the hills and winding trails were back, to no one’s pleasure, but the boys and girls from Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern, and St. Paul Catholic truly could care less.
All the teams were elated to be back together again, running and competing under the three scholastic banners in town.
“It’s great to be back and have all the team’s back together again,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk. “We really missed this last year.”
‘Weird course’
After winning the 2021 city series cross country individual title, Porrini called Page Park a ‘weird course.’
But was Porrini correct in that assessment?
We’re known for hills in Bristol and the course over at Rockwell Park isn’t devoid of treacherous spots, hazards and tight spaces either.
Fuller designed the course at Page Park and knows it’s not your run-of-the-mill scholastic venue for cross country events.
“The thing with this course is you’re either descending or you’re climbing,” said Fuller. “We think there’s only three-hundred to four-hundred meters of flat [course]. It’s one of the worst courses to run because there’s no time to catch your breath.”
And is it any fun to sprint down the hill in front of the Page Park pool just to have to run up the other side of it?
Or to sprint on pavement for just thirty-seconds or so before hitting the woods across from the ski lodge…just to start running uphill again?
Weird is a good term by Porrini but crazy might be in the mix as well.
“If you’re climbing a hill, great, and then all of a sudden, you’re descending,” said Fuller. “So the lactic acid is building up. The times are obviously slower than you’re going to see at [the state meets] from Wickham [Park] or Avon. Everyone wants to go to Avon from last year because it’s flat. There aren’t any hills whatsoever.”
What’s next?
There’s plenty of excitement left for our cross country teams in town.
In terms of the Central Connecticut Conference, the league championships take place this coming Tuesday at 3 p.m. from Wickham Park in Manchester.
And a week after that, on October 26, the CCC Freshman Championships – always an exciting race – commences at 4 p.m. from the West Hartford Reservoir.
Saturday, October 30 is the day of the Class L championships – also from Wickham Park – and the State Open commences on Friday, November 5 over a busy finish of the scholastic season.