By Michael Letendre
MANCHESTER — After a tremendous bout at the annual Bristol City cross country meet last Thursday, both Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern duked it out again – this time at the CCC South championship event from Wickham Park in Manchester.
And once again, the Lancers got the better of the Rams, finishing the CCC South race in third place overall.
Eastern notched 84 points while Central was just six points behind with 90.
That finish was a pretty close one between the programs from the Mum City.
Lewis Mills won the South with 37 points while Plainville was just two points behind at 39.
After the Bristol programs, Maloney zipped up 126 points for fifth place.
On the individual front, Plainville’s Chase McNamara – a truly experienced harrier – won the South in a time of 17:10.3 while Central’s Patrick Wininger had another tremendous race.
His second-place time of 17:36.1 made him the runner-up at the event while Zach Barth from Lewis Mills (17:48.4) was a distant third.
Wininger earned CCC South All-Conference honors off that showing and will be one of the featured runners in the Class L bracket.
“Patrick Wininger placed second in the CCC South to earn All-Conference,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk. “I’m so proud of the leader and hard worker he is. He has come a long way since freshman year.”
And the 90-point showing was a solid finish from the Rams.
Excellent efforts by Rowan Hennessey (16th place, 19:12.5), Naythan Pellerin (20th, 19:38.4), Noah Pellerin (25th, 20:08.3) and Nicola DiMatteo (27, 20:09) fueled the squad on the course.
On the flip side, the Kingstreeters’ nabbing third place in the CCC South this year was a great finish.
“Led by Jase Koczur, the boys had another strong showing,” said Eastern coach Paul Ryskowski. “Cole Beland, Kyle Kelley, Jonny Casarola, and Aidan Gezelman stepped up in a big way. Brendan Tartarelli did not race due to injury, but his teammates picked him up with their performances.”
Koczur, the stellar sophomore, made a top-12 finish (11th place, 18:23.7) while Beland –
another super sophomore – wasn’t far behind (13th, 19:01.9).
Kelley (17th, 19:23.5), Casarola (19th, 19:34) and Gezelman (24th, 19:54.3) weren’t much off the pace and those finishes helped the Lancers snare third place in the end.
Also that day, Dylan Prince (Eastern, 20:39.7), Aiden Georgakopoulos (Central, 20:54.2), Braydan Dwyer (Central, 20:59.7) and Thomas Stout (Eastern, 21:45.2) took part in the event.
Overall, Eastern finished the season with a 10-4 record and improved from last season.
“The boys grew immensely throughout the season and have shown that they can compete with the top of the conference,” said Ryskowski. “I’m proud of how they competed and I’m excited for the direction that they’re heading.”
E.O. Smith won the overall CCC race with 46 points while runner-up Hall (53 points) was just seven points off the lead.
Rocky Hill (third place, 133), Southington (fourth, 147) and Simsbury (191) rounded out the top five from Wickham Park.
NOTES…There’s plenty more racing to commence over the next week or so. The freshman championship is next Tuesday and on Saturday, it’s the Class MM Championship meet and another trip to Wickham Park.
The State Open takes place on Nov. 3 – also at Wickham Park.
Central Connecticut Conference Championship – Boys
Overall Champions: E.O. Smith – 46 points
Runner-up: Hall – 53 points
The Rest of the field: 3. Rocky Hill 133, 4. Southington 147, 5. Simsbury 191, 6. Conard 210, 7. Avon 218, 8. Tolland 237, 9. Glastonbury 256, 10. Lewis Mills 256, 11. Plainville 256, 12. Manchester 316, 13. RHAM 369, 14. Bristol Eastern 458, 15. Wethersfield 464, 16. Windsor 472, 17. Bristol Central 488, 18. South Windsor 501, 19. Newington 510, 20. East Catholic 578, 21. Maloney 608, 22. Farmington 613, 23. New Britain 656, 24. Northwest Catholic 677, 25. Bloomfield 730, 26. East Hartford 745, 27. Berlin 755, 28. Middletown 784, 29. Enfield 837, 30. Platt 877.
CCC South Results
1. Lewis Mills 37, 2. Plainville 39, 3. Bristol Eastern 84, Bristol Central 90, 5. Maloney 126, 6. Berlin 171, 7. Middletown 176, 8. Platt 202.
Bristol Central / Bristol Eastern CCC South – Individual Results
2. Patrick Wininger (Bristol Central), 17:36.10
11. Jase Koczur (Bristol Eastern), 18:23.7
13. Cole Beland (Bristol Eastern), 19:01.9
16. Rowan Hennessey (Bristol Central), 19:12.5
17. Kyle Kelley (Bristol Eastern), 19:23.5
19. Jonathan Casarola (Bristol Eastern), 19:34
20. Naythan Pellerin (Bristol Central), 19:38.4
24. Aidan Gezelman (Bristol Eastern), 19:54.3
25. Noah Pellerin (Bristol Central), 20:08.3
27. Nicola DiMatteo (Bristol Central), 20:09
Also placing for Bristol: Dylan Prince (Bristol Eastern), 20:39.7, Aiden Georgakopoulos (Bristol Central), 20:54.2, Braydan Dwyer (Bristol Central), 20:59.7, Thomas Stout (Bristol Eastern), 21:45.2.
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