By Staff, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp
Despite the humid conditions on Saturday Simsbury’s Luke Davis earned his third consecutive title at the 42nd Stratton Brook Invitational in Simsbury CT. Davis finished in 17:03 over the 5k course, where last year he had clocked 16:58 and 16:35 as a sophomore in 2021. Avon’s Will Lancaster gained runner-up honors in the Large School Varsity race as Norwich Free Academy placed their first 5 runners in the top 19 places to win the team title 41 points over runner-up Avon with 54. NFA was led by Sawyer Barile in 3rd place in 17:46 closely followed by Patrick Croughwell (5th) in 18:03, Jesse Croteau (6th) in 18:07 and an 8th place by Robinson Meuse in 18:26.
Photo courtesy of NFA Instagram
Photo courtesy of Avon Instagram
NFA also took home individual honors in the Girls Large School Varsity race as junior Karina Chan navigated the mostly trail course in 22:00 with South Windsor’s Alyssa Ella Drenga following in 22:10 for second place. Junior Hannah Donzella of Windsor finished 3rd in 22:19 to lead her team to the title with 47 points over runner-up South Windsor with 61.
In the Girls Small School Varsity race, Somers’ Stephanie Burzynski took the top honors in 20:18 moving up from the junior’s third place finish last year in 21:20. Right on her heels was sophomore Sarah Roberts of Mercy in 20:20 followed by last year’s runner-up Annecy Vlieks of Daniel Hand in 20:41.
In basically a two team chase for the title, Somers edged Mercy by a 41 to 49 point margin as Burzynski, Julia Settevendemie, Sara St. Germain, Ava Depeau, and Dara Salka finished just ahead of their Mercy competitors.
The Boys Small School Varsity race featured a win from junior Kyle McCarron of Housatonic Valley as he easily out-paced all competitors in 17:19 with Litchfield’s Ben Schildgen placing second in 18:00. Suffield proved their team strength in gaining the title with 44 points over RHAM at 102 without their #1 runner Griffin Manderola competing. Their 5-6-7-10-16 finish led by Nathan Peskin, Aiden Hopkins and Andrew Organ bodes well for the remainder of their season.
Other race winners included:
Boys Large School JV 5k: James Henderson, Xavier, 20:13
Girls Large School JV 5k: Abigail Wilson, Simsbury, 25:27
Boys Small School JV 5k: Joseph Colangelo, Suffield, 19:58
Girls Small School JV 5k: Lilliana Tycz, Mercy, 24:47
Boys Freshman 2 mile: Andrew Kessler, Avon, 12:20
Girls Freshman 2 mile: Lilyana Markavich, Wamogo, 14:46
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