By Owen Lentner
After a long bus ride to Rhode Island, the Branford High Cross Country team turned in a good performance at the Ocean State Invitational, where more than 100 teams from across the region competed. Next up for the hornet runners is the Southern Connecticut Conference Division Championships at the Guilford Fairgrounds today.
Results from The Ocean State Invitational
The Rhode Island race was packed and a great time for runners and spectators. The freshman runners had a shorter course of 4,000 meters (2.48 mi) while varsity and junior varsity ran the usual 5,000 meters, or 3.1 miles. Charlotte Kenny, a 9th grader, came in second place in the freshman race, finishing with a time of 16:39.3. Caitlyn Lentner, an 11th grader, finished in 55th place out of 252 runners with a time of 22:24.0. Shifting to the boys team: A ninth grader, Vincent Gustavson came in 80th place of 125 freshmen. He finished with a time of 18:02.9. The team’s other freshman, Sawyer Gaudreau, came in 29th place with a 4K time of 15:29.3. In the varsity 5,000 meter race of 302 total runners, Nolan Weted (a senior) came in 276th place with a time of 22:48.6. Supreme Shrestha, also a senior and team capitan, came in 257th place with a finishing time of 22:11.1. Not far ahead of him was Cooper Ranton (10th grade) finishing with a time of 21:45.1 in 247th place. Coming in at 233rd place was Cormac Fichtenholtz, a sophomore, finishing with a time of 21:21.2. Paul Lesyk, a senior, came in 219th place finishing at 20:59.4. In 85th place, David Regan (in 12th grade and a team captain) finished with a time of 18:36.1.
The Southern Connecticut Division Championships Race
The Southern Connecticut Division Championship Race will be held in Guilford, with a flat course that boasts multiple vantage points for spectators and photographers. The property is home to The Guilford Fair, occuring every September, with a large turnout each year. The course has some in the woods running, but is mostly running on grass in the open field. There will be 23 teams total racing. The first race will start at 3:30pm and the last race is scheduled for 5pm. For more info on the race and order of events, click this Link to Athletic.net
What’s Next?
Once the Southern Connecticut Division Conference (SCC) Race is in the books, the team will have two final races:
– Sacred Heart Academy, Cheshire, Branford, & Johnathan Law at Notre Dame in West Haven
– Southern Connecticut Conference Cross Country Championships in New Haven.
After these races, BHS goes to the state meet, on October 26th, held at Wickham Park in Manchester (7 miles east from Hartford). Wickham Park is an especially fun race because of the scenic location and electric crowd! It is also home to the “Green Monster”, a steep hill the runners encounter at about 1.5 miles into the race. Look out for an article soon on the state meet closer to the race date, but in the meantime Go Hornets!
