By Michael Letendre

MANCHESTER – Neither the girls cross country programs from Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern scored as a team from the Class L Championships at Wickham Park on Saturday.

Due to injury and the like, both the Rams and Lancers programs ran as individuals and had several runners cross the finish line over the loaded field.

Central’s Katie Tran placed 64th overall in 23:34 while teammate Emma Cavallari took 91st with a finish of 25:10.

Finally for Central, Ruth Smith (104th, 27:29) crossed the line as the Rams three athletes ran well from the course at Wickham.

“Due to some late season injuries, we only ran three girls today,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk. “I’m super proud of them for stepping up and putting it all out there. Junior Captain Katie Tran had a phenomenal season. I’m really looking forward to next year with her and the other rising seniors returning, especially Sophia Stark. Freshman Emma Cavallari and sophomore Ruth Smith showed significant improvement this season. With our full team of girls back next year we are excited for our future!”

For the Lancers, their two best athletes did extremely well over the big Class L event.

Eastern freshman Kaelyn Gonzalez hardly resembles a first-year scholastic athlete, dashing across the finish line in 22:04 while junior Lauren Ayotte (78th place) has been tremendous across the course of the campaign.     

Only four other freshmen finished better than Gonzalez as she is one of the future stars of scholastic running in town.  

“Kaelyn Gonzalez came in 34th place with a time of 22:04,” said Eastern coach Paul Ryskowski. “Lauren Ayotte finished her season strong running her best time at Wickham Park with a time of 24:01.”

New Milford won the Class L title behind a 50-point showing while second place New Canaan (68) wasn’t far behind.