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Competing
The Woodstock Academy sophomore Brooke Bergevin competes against Ellis Tech on the new cross-country course at the South Campus. She was the first individual finisher. Photo courtesy of Sean Saucier/The Woodstock Academy.
The Woodstock Academy cross-country teams had to wait a little bit but finally got their first two meets of the season in.
The Centaurs boys’ and girl’s teams both scored victories over Ellis Tech Oct. 7 and Parish Hill Oct. 10.
Senior Ethan Aspiras picked up where he left off for the boys’ team. Aspiras, who had been running on his own early in training, returned to the team a couple of weeks before the first meet and coach Peter Lusa has been impressed with what he has seen.
“Ethan is very prepared to run this season. He has a level of focus that makes training him easier than the other athletes. His commitment to the sport is pretty serious,” Lusa said.
Aspiras finished first individually in 18 minutes, 17 seconds to lead the Centaurs to a 19-44 win over Ellis Tech.
The race was the first-ever run on the Centaurs new South Campus course.
New courses will be the rule rather than the exception this season.
The Centaurs do not face their usual opponents such as E. Lyme, NFA and Fitch but rather will keep it regional.
It has made it challenging for Lusa to judge just where Aspiras is this season compared to last when he won the ECC individual title.
Another thing missing; the events that cross-country runners covet.
“It would be a lot more fun if we had big meets and invitationals to let him loose on. I feel that there is a level of disappointment in him about the loss of the bigger meets, like ECC’s, States and New England’s,” Lusa said.
Ellis Tech’s Jacob Reed did sneak into the top five, finishing second, just 14 seconds behind Aspiras. Woodstock Academy’s Vince Bastura (20:18) finished third with Centaur teammates Seamus Lippy and Max Auker tying for fourth in 21:05.
The Centaurs raised their record to 2-0 Oct. 10 with a 15-50 win over the Pirates.
Aspiras won the race by over a minute and a half, finishing in 17:42.
“Ethan is having fun being “the guy” on the team that everyone wants to talk about and admire, to some extent. We had been practicing for a couple of weeks and when he finally came to his first practice, the kids from every group were fired up and chatting about Ethan being there. It was nice to witness,” Lusa said.
Bastura (19:14) was second against Parish Hill followed by Auker (20:11), Lippy (20:17) and Adam Thompson (20:22).
Girls win 2
The Centaurs girls were just as successful as their male counterparts.
The girls opened the season Oct. 7 with a 15-50 win over Ellis Tech.
“It’s a true cross-country course with trails, stone and wooden bridges, leaves, roots and steep inclines. It’s probably the most challenging course in Windham County,” said Centaurs girls’ cross-country coach Joe Banas.
Sophomore Brooke Bergevin, bothered by illness much of last season, showed what she could do when she is healthy.
She finished first in 20:55 against the Eagles and followed that up with a first-place performance in Chaplin where she cut three seconds off her time to lead the Centaurs to a 15-49 win.
She even finished ahead of Woodstock Academy junior Linsey Arends in the Ellis Tech meet. Last year’s ECC runner up came home in 23:26.
Arends did not run against Parish Hill.
“Brooke provided strong evidence of her strength and talent as our top finisher,” Banas said. “She has been our top female runner in our hard workouts throughout the season. She’s tough and a hard worker.”
Lauren Brule (23:38), Tessa Brown (24:06) and Avery Mowrey (24:16) comprised the top five for the Centaurs against Ellis Tech. Iris Bazinet (22:35), Brown (23:08), Leah Castle (23:12) and Mowrey (23:15) were the top five against Parish Hill.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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