Montville Runner Qualifies For New England Championships

MANCHESTER, CT — Hundreds of runners tackled the Green Monster at Wickham Park in Manchester at the CIAC State Open cross country championships Friday, and some familiar names topped the leaderboard.

Drew Thompson of Fairfield Prep, who placed second in 2016, just a second behind Zakeer Ahmad of Staples, coasted to victory this year with a time of 15:44, beating runner-up Brendan Murray of Cheshire by 17 seconds over the 3.1 mile course. Robert Dillon of Shelton was third.

In the girls' race, Morgan McCormick of Wilton breezed to her second straight Open triumph in 18:23, trimming 20 seconds off last year's winning mark. In 2016, she edged Hayley Collins of Tolland by just two seconds, but this year, she handily left Katherine Wiser of Pomperaug behind by 19 seconds. Meredith Bloss of Guilford wound up third.

Xavier and Staples tied for the boys' team lead with 61 points each, with Xavier declared champion by virtue of a better combined time. Fairfield Warde was third with 137 points.

For the girls, Glastonbury's 80 points easily topped Danbury, which had 128. Pomperaug was third with 136.

The top 25 individual boys and girls and the top six teams in each division qualified for the New England Championships, to take place Saturday, Nov. 11 in Belfast, Maine.

Here are the top 25 finishers and top six teams in each race. Click the headers for complete results of boys and girls races.

BOYS

1. Drew Thompson, Fairfield Prep, 15:44
2. Brendan Murray, Cheshire
3. Robert Dillon, Shelton
4. Benjamin Seiple, Staples
5. Eli Nahom, New Milford
6. Joe Pearl, Manchester
7. Maximillian Sparks, Canton
8. Peter Schulten, Xavier
9. Christian Myers, Staples
10. Ken Little, Derby
11. William Landowne, Staples
12. Alex Mocarski, Fairfield Warde
13. James Maniscalco, Fairfield Warde
14. Andrew Meredith, Haddam-Killingworth
15. Dan Nichols, Danbury
16. Owen Curran, Xavier
17. William Curran, Xavier
18. Azaan Dawson, Fairfield Prep
19. Dillon Selfors, Xavier
20. Robbie Cozean, Xavier
21. Killian McNamee, Tolland
22. Zachary King, Ledyard
23. Heath Olivieri, East Catholic
24. Kyle Hotchkiss, Kennedy
25. Nicholas Taubenteim, Staples

Teams

1. Xavier, 61
2. Staples, 61
3. Fairfield Warde, 137
4. Fairfield Prep, 162
5. Haddam-Killingworth, 183
6. Hall, 185

GIRLS

1. Morgan McCormick, Wilton, 18:23
2. Katherine Wiser, Pomperaug
3. Meredeith Bloss, Guilford
4. Kate Hedlund, Manchester
5. Angela Saidman, Immaculate
6. Lauren Moore, Danbury
7. Bethany Ottowitz, Watertown
8. Celia Chacko, Aerospace
9. Alexandra Chakar, Danbury
10. Elizabeth Stockman, Rocky Hill
11. Angela Braga, Glastonbury
12. Kylie Raymond, Somers
13. Madison Villa, Pomperaug
14. Emily Philippides, Greenwich
15. Kayla Cohen, New Fairfield
16. Mady Whittaker, Montville
17. Alessandra Zaffina, Trumbull
18. Miranda Graves, E.O. Smith
19. Brittany Anderson, Glastonbury
20. Ariana Monarca, Middletown
21. Grace Sparrow, Glastonbury
22. Juliana Cancellieri, Berlin
23. Kelsey D'Amico, Haddam-Killingworth
24. Hazel Hudson, New Fairfield
25. Alexandra Ross, Glastonbury

Teams

1. Glastonbury, 80
2. Danbury, 128
3. Pomperaug, 136
4. Guilford, 153
5. Haddam-Killingworth, 219
6. Trumbull, 236

Photo: Mady Whittaker, foreground. Photo credit: Tim Jensen

— By Tim Jensen (Patch Staff)