- Details
- Category: Current Issue
Centaurs girls
finish 2nd
in MM;
15th in State
The girls’ cross-country season came to an end for Woodstock Academy Nov. 5 — but it was a great run. Literally.
The Centaurs surprised even themselves with a second-place finish in the Class MM state championship meet. That qualified them for the State Open championship on Friday.
Woodstock finished as 15th-best in the state with a 15th-place finish at the Open.
“It was an incredible experience to be here,” said Woodstock Academy coach Joe Banas. “This is a great group of girls here. I will take 15th-place. We are now on notice. Other schools are saying, ‘Who is this Woodstock Academy?’ They’ve never had to think about us before.”
Senior Linsey Arends was hoping to crack the top 25 at the State Open and qualify for the New England championship but fell just a little short in 40th place, finishing in 20 minutes, 9 seconds.
“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed for this to be the end of the season in my senior year. I’m happy with what I did do this season and accomplished in my comeback from anemia, “Arends said.
One runner who was positively beaming was junior Lauren Brule as she finished second on the team in 68th place, finishing in a personal best time of 20:52. She termed her effort “insane.”
Brule’s effort and that of Julia Coyle (137th overall), Carah Bruce (141), Sydney Lord (156) and Tessa Brown (169) gives Banas hope for the future as he loses only Arends and fifth runner Leah Castle (151st) to graduation.
Earlier in the week, Banas was walking around Wickham Park trying to process it after the Class MM race had concluded.
Due to weather and course conditions, the event had to be moved from Saturday to Monday and his Centaurs were ready.
They finished second to Guilford (65 points), amassing only 90, and finished nine points better than ECC rival, E. Lyme.
Arends paced the Centaurs with a seventh-place finish. It was a planned finish. The first was that she wanted to qualify for the State Open individually, an honor that went to the first 12 runners in each division. “And I just wanted to make top eight to make All-State and I did so I made my goal,” Arends said. She also wanted to save a little for the State Open just three days later.
Brule was not far behind Arends, coming home in 14th. Coyle placed 21st with Bruce in 24th and Castle in 30th.
Boys
Woodstock coach Peter Lusa was hoping for a top-10 finish in the Class MM state championship and got his wish. The Centaurs finished sixth.
Senior Ian Hoffman led the way with a 16th-place finish. “It feels really good. I didn’t really get the time that I had wanted but I have to take into consideration that the course was kind of trashed (from rain and use), so overall, I’m pretty happy,” Hoffman said. Hoffman finished in 18 minutes even.
Vincente Bastura placed 24th. “I had a great race. I almost fell a couple of times but overall I’m happy with how I pushed myself (Monday),” Bastura said.
Christian Menounos placed 40th; Seamus Lippy was 54th.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
captions, page 2: Celebration
The Woodstock Academy girls celebrate after a second-place finish in the Class MM girls’ cross-country state championship meet.
Finish-Line Chute
Senior Ian Hoffman comes down the finish line chute enroute to a 16th-place finish at the Class MM boys’ cross-country state championship meet. Photos by Marc Allard.
..