Note- The meet scheduled for Thursday has been moved to Friday at 3:15 due to weather
By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – One of the best events of the fall scholastic season is upon us as all three schools in the city of Bristol come together for the annual city series cross country meet.
Both the boys and girls races will be contested on Thursday from the course at St. Paul Catholic High School as Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern make the short trip to Maltby Street.
Last year, the boys event was a good one as Frankie Porrini and the squad from Central defeated Eastern (26-31) and St. Paul Catholic (22-35) in the showdown from the Johnie Floyd Memorial Cross Country Course at Page Park back on October 14.
Central won the event for the 17th straight season – earning every city series title since the Garren boys, Eric and Justin, and company graduated from Eastern.
Porrini won last year’s race in 18:21 which was 18 seconds better than Eastern’s Logan Crowley.
The Rams have a very good team once again, spearheaded by Porrini, along with Chris Roy, Patrick Wininger and Lance Archibald.
Roy came in third place while Archibald finished seventh last year at the city series bout.
Eastern’s wheelhouse is strong as well, highlighted by the senior core of Dominic Tartarelli, Aidan Tartarelli and Jack Mulcunry.
The Tartarelli duo ended last season’s race in fifth and ninth place with Dominic finishing before Aidan.
The Lancers wants to win the championship while host St. Paul Catholic has a good chance as well.
In the race last year, Colin Reilly (fourth place) and Matt Doherty (sixth) did well and will help lead the pack once again.
On the flip side, St. Paul Catholic girls team did extreme well at the 2021 clash.
The Falcons defeated Central (23-34) and Eastern (24-32) for the win.
Between the public schools, the Lancers beat the Rams 25-32.
The Falcons have some pop and return sophomore Maddie Bielecki – last season’s winner (23:53).
Charlotte Jennings (seventh last season) and Lizzie Speaker (ninth) make up a strong grouping but a certain freshman from Eastern has her eyes on the top prize.
First year runner Kaelyn Gonzalez has been tremendous this season and is a grinder on the course.
And Eastern’s Lauren Ayotte made a big splash with her fifth place finish in the city series bout as a sophomore.
But don’t fall asleep on Central’s Katie Tran as she was also a top-10 performer at Page Park.
Meet time is 3:45 p.m. at St. Paul Catholic.
Here are the results from the boys and girls races from 2021:
Boys City Series Cross Country – Thursday, October 14
BRISTOL CENTRAL 26, BRISTOL EASTERN 31
BRISTOL CENTRAL 21, ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 40
BRISTOL EASTERN 22, ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 35
from the Johnie Floyd Memorial Cross Country Course at Page Park – 3.1 Miles
Top-10
City Series Champion – Frankie Porrini (Bristol Central), 18:21
Runner-up – Logan Crowley (Bristol Eastern), 18:39
3. Christopher Roy (Bristol Central), 18:49
4. Colin Reilly (St. Paul Catholic), 19:23
5. Dominic Tartarelli (Bristol Eastern), 19:33
6. Matt Doherty (St. Paul Catholic), 19:53
7. Lance Archibald (Bristol Central), 20:14
8. Dante Marciano (Bristol Eastern), 20:21
9. Aidan Tartarelli (Bristol Eastern), 20:22
10. Ryan Sarmiento (Bristol Central), 20:44
Runners to Watch on Thursday:
Bristol Central – City Series Top Results from 2021
Frankie Porrini (senior, winner of last season’s CC race)
Chris Roy (senior, 3rd place in 2021)
Patrick Wininger (junior)
Lance Archibald (senior, 7th place in 2021)
Nick DiMatteo (sophomore)
Aiden Georgakopoulos (sophomore)
Bristol Eastern
Dominic Tartarelli (senior, 5th place last year)
Aidan Tartarelli (senior, 9th place at CC race)
Jack Mulcunry (senior)
Brendan Tartarelli (sophomore)
Dylan Prince (sophomore)
Cole Beland (freshmen)
Aidan Gezelman (sophomore)
St. Paul Catholic
Matt Doherty (junior, 6th place in 2021)
Colin Reilly (senior, 4th place)
Brian Wilson (senior)
Declan Tolland (senior)
Aidan Conklin (junior)
James Rinaldi (junior)
Danny Wilson (senior)
Girls 2021 City Series Cross Country – Thursday, October 14
ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 23, BRISTOL CENTRAL 34
ST. PAUL CATHOLIC 24, BRISTOL EASTERN 32
BRISTOL EASTERN 25, BRISTOL CENTRAL 32
Individual Results – Top 15
City Series Champion – Maddie Bielecki (St. Paul Catholic), 23:53
Runner-up – Fiona Gallagher (Bristol Eastern), 24:45
3. Maura Waters (Bristol Central), 25:04
4. Catherine Wootton (St. Paul Catholic), 26:19
5. Lauren Ayotte (Bristol Eastern), 26:38
6. Sophia Stark (Bristol Central), 27:16
7. Charlotte Jennings (St. Paul Catholic), 27:43
8. Shillelagh Gallagher (Bristol Eastern), 27:58
9. Elizabeth Speaker (St. Paul Catholic), 28:05
10. Katie Tran (Bristol Central), 28:19
Runners to Watch on Thursday:
Bristol Central
Katie Tran (junior, 10th at the race in 2021)
Emma Cavallari (freshmen)
Lynae Lewis (junior)
Ruth Smith (sophomore)
Bristol Eastern
Kaelyn Gonzalez (freshmen)
Lauren Ayotte (junior, big 5th place finish in 2021)
Kaydence Meyer (sophomore)
Rita Gao (junior)
St. Paul Catholic
Maddie Bielecki (sophomore, race winner in 2021)
Gretchen Radcliff (freshman)
Charlotte Jennings (junior, seventh last season)
Calista Oria (senior)
Lizzie Speaker (senior, ninth overall)
Amelia Jennings (freshmen)
Gracey Steck (sophomore)
