By Michael Letendre

FARMINGTON – While the Bristol Central girls cross country program might be a bit depleted at the moment, all the healthy members of the squad continue to show improvement as the 2022 campaign creeps along.

The season is a marathon, not a sprint, and the outfit from the school on the hill in Bristol got to face some quality competition at the 10th Annual Winding Trails Invitational in Farmington on Saturday.

The Central program did not enter as a team but the grouping of Sophia Stark (23rd overall, 22:36), Katie Tran (31st, 23:26), Lynae Lewis (48th, 25:03), and Johannie Juarez (56th, 27:26) all made strides on the course from Farmington.

And then on the previous Tuesday, the girls were in CCC South competition against Middletown and host Plainville.

The meet, contested from the course at Plainville Middle School, saw the Rams fall to the Blue Devils 20-38 while also losing to the Blue Dragons 23-34.

Plainville defeated Middletown 24-33 to sweep the day.

Central fell to 1-3 on the year.

Middletown’s Elise Kennedy won the event in 22:29 while Plainville’s Gianna Rodriguez (23:33) took second place.

Plainville’s Penley Giola (23:44) nabbed third place while Stark did well, finishing with a time of 23:54 for fourth place.

Rounding out the top eight were Plainville’s Oliwia Marecak (fifth, 24:10), Middletown’s Ashley Clow (sixth, 24:20) and Natalie Forno (seventh, 24:48) all ran well before Tran (eighth, 24:57) made her move to finish strong.

“Bristol Central cross country continues to step up every race,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk via Twitter.

10th Annual Winding Trails Invitational

from Farmington

Bristol Central Girls Individual Results

23. Sophia Stark 22:36

31. Katie Tran 23:26

48. Lynae Lewis 25:03

56. Johannie Juarez 27:26

Bristol Central vs. Middletown & Plainville 

from Plainville Middle School (3.1 miles) – Tuesday, September 20

Team Results

Middletown 23, Bristol Central 34

Plainville 20, Bristol Central 38 

Plainville 24, Middletown 33

Records: Bristol Central 1-3 overall

Individual Results – Top 10

1. Elise Kennedy (Middletown), 22:29

2. Gianna Rodriguez (Plainville),  23:33

3. Penley Giola (Plainville), 23:44

4. Sophia Stark (Bristol Central), 23:54

5. Oliwia Marecak (Plainville), 24:10

6. Ashley Clow (Middletown), 24:20

7. Natalie Forno (Middletown), 24:48

8. Katie Tran (Bristol Central), 24:57

9. Rachel Diaz (Plainville), 25:08

10. Hailey Andersen (Plainville), 25:10

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