By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The annual City Series Cross Country meet is shaping up to be a special event this year.
The showdown – involving Bristol Eastern, St. Paul Catholic and host Bristol Central – takes place this Thursday from Rockwell Park.
The first race begins at 3:45 p.m. but this won’t be your average city series bout.
“It’s the anniversary of the awful loss of two of our police officers [and] we will honor them by wearing ribbons and having a moment of silence,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk.
Central will also be honoring one of their own at the event.
Jose Angel Ramirez will be honored that afternoon as the former scholastic standout was a tremendous student athlete during his days at BCHS.
“We are dedicating the race to Angel Ramirez, Bristol Central High School class of 2020 and member of the cross country and track and field” teams said Stafford-Kirk. “He is currently battling stage 4 brain cancer. Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern and St. Paul Catholic are coming together to raise money for the family. We will all be wearing Angel Strong tees in our school colors.”
“Angel will be the honorary starter for the meet as well.”
Before leaving for the University of Connecticut, Ramirez held a couple different records at Central which included the top school mark in the challenging 800 meters.
“Angel is the school record holder in the 800 and was a member of two Bristol Central cross country Class L Runner-up teams,” said Stafford-Kirk.
In the 800 meters, Ramirez recorded a time of 1:54.95 to establish the school record back on May 4, 2019, at the always ultra-competitive Middletown Invitational.
He also nabbed the school record in the 400 meters that season, squaring up an impressive finish of 49.74 seconds.
20 in a row?
What else is on the line on Thursday?
The Central boys are looking for its 20th straight team title against the competition from Bristol.
Will this be the year the Kingstreeters finally dethrone the Rams?
Both the boys public school programs are 4-2 overall and the race between the programs is going to be one of the most competitive in recent years.
On the girls side, Central (5-1) has been amazing to date while Eastern (4-2) isn’t far behind.
However, you can’t count out either program from St. Paul Catholic either.
The squads are coming off sweeps against Waterbury Career Academy and Crosby on Thursday to enter the City Series event with a ton of momentum.
