VCMS Runners Take NEMSAC Title

VERNON, CT — On Oct. 23, the Vernon Center Middle School boys cross country team was crowned the NEMSAC champion for the second year in a row.

Here's a summary from head coach Nicholas Willette:

The boys team has had a consistent flow of athletic talent over the past few years and its unique level of determination has led to success this season.

VCMS was undefeated in the regular season, and managed to win the conference meet despite being down its second- and fourth-fastest runners from injury and illness. In cross country, a team of seven runners participates in the race and the fastest five of the seven get scored.

Being down two-fifths would be catastrophic for most teams. However, due to the depth of talent on the team, VCMS was still the favorite by a close margin.

VMCS was able to place three of its runners in the top ten places overall. Those runners included: Jared Burchell (1), Andrew Carangelo (3) and Alex Stoner (10). Other scoring members of the team included Devin Binimellis (13) and Colby Derosier (19).

This was also the second year in a row that Vernon has had the overall winner of the meet. Many members from the team also participate regularly with great success in local competitive 5K races. It is normal to see several Vernon runners both boys and girls in the top 10 overall results and some have even won adult races outright. The future is bright for Vernon running.