By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The annual Bristol city wide boys and girls cross country meet commences on Friday from St. Paul Catholic High School at 3:15 p.m.

The meets were postponed on Thursday due to the weather and, along with the events of the day involving Bristol police officers, the pause was needed and necessary.

But it’s back to work on Friday as the squads from Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern and St. Paul Catholic will be hitting the course in pursuit of the city series championship.

Both champs from 2021 are back for another race as Central senior Frankie Porrini looks to win his final city wide bout.

Competition for the individual title will come in the form of Central teammates Chris Roy, Patrick Wininger and Lance Archibald.

Eastern brings the senior duo of Dominic and Aidan Tartarelli while St. Paul Catholic standouts Matt Doherty and Colin Reilly look to be in the mix by the conclusion of the race.

And on the girls side, St. Paul Catholic’s Maddie Bielecki – the 2021 winner – looks to repeat as champion over her sophomore campaign.

The Falcons’ Charlotte Jennings and Lizzie Speaker should challenge the field as will Central’s Katie Tran.

Eastern freshman Kaelyn Gonzalez and junior Lauren Ayotte are also harriers to watch on the course.

But this is only the start of a busy slate of action over the next 10 days or so for all the teams.

Next Tuesday, the programs at Central and Eastern take part of the Central Connecticut Conference Championships from Wickham Park in Manchester while the following day, the Falcons make up part of the field at the Naugatuck Valley League Championships from Veterans Memorial Park.