By Michael Letendre
MANCHESTER — Both the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern girls cross country programs braved the heat at the 2023 CIAC championships from Wickham Park in Manchester on Saturday afternoon.
The unseasonable weather got to several runners and made the title bouts a real mess that day.
For the girls at Central, the squad didn’t have a full team to take on the elements, but the unit did well with a smaller crew.
“The girls unfortunately only had four racing today due to illness and injury,” said Central coach Tamara Stafford-Kirk.
Three runners managed to cross the finish line for the Rams in the end.
Katie Tran finished the day in 71st place with a time of 23:51 while teammate Emersyn Mazzei (25:14) nabbed 89th overall.
Also for Central, Ruth Smith completed the course at Wickham that afternoon, taking 111th place overall with a finish of 27:43.
Newington’s Katherine Bohlke (19:00) won the Class L race while the Sherry’s – Tess and Liv – finished the contest in second (19:43) and third place (19:51), respectively.
“The girls were down a few due to sickness and injury but Captain Katie Tran led the team like the amazing leader she is,” said Stafford-Kirk.
For the Eastern girls, the program finished in 14th place with 356 points overall.
Eastern junior Kaydence Meyer took 66th place with a time of 25:51, senior Lauren Ayotte roped up 73rd place in 26:10 during her final championship event of her scholastic career while sophomore Kaelyn Gonzalez (76th, 26:28) wasn’t far behind.
The Kingstreeters also saw Rita Gao (81st, 26:44), Calliope Gallagher (88th, 27:29) and Brooklynne Whitlock (103rd, 27:29) round out the day for the locals.
New Canaan (95 points) won the Class MM championship while Wilton (115 points) was the runner up.
Cheshire (135) came in third, Hall (135) finished in fourth and Edwin O. Smith (139) made a competitive fifth place finish.
Pomperaug’s Sophia Oliva (20:11) won the individual championship.
2023 Cross Country Class L Championships — Girls Race
from Wickham Park, Manchester
Race winner: New Canaan – 95 Points
Runner-up: Wilton – 115 Points
Top 10: 3. Cheshire (135), 4. Hall (135), 5. Edwin O. Smith (139), 7. Darien (183), 8. Conard (209), 9. Simsbury (229), 10. Newtown (241).
Three runners finished the race for Bristol Central — The squad did not score as a team:
71. Katie Tran 23:51
89. Emersyn Mazzei 25:14
111. Ruth Smith 27:43
2023 Cross Country Class MM Championships — Girls Race
from Wickham Park, Manchester
Race winner: New Milford — 28 points (first four runners finished in the top seven)
Runner-up: Guilford — 94 points
The rest of the Top 10: 3. Avon (95 points), 4. Pomperaug (111), 5. Windsor (119), 6. East Lyme (127), 7. Wethersfield (185), 8. Woodstock Academy (233), 9. Berlin (253), 10. Brookfield (263).
Bristol Eastern Girls — 14th overall (356 points)
66. Kaydence Meyer 25:51
73. Lauren Ayotte 26:10
76. Kaelyn Gonzalez 26:28
81. Rita Gao 26:44
88. Calliope Gallagher 27:29
103. Brooklynne Whitlock 27:29
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