Woodstock
gets 3rd in ECC
championship
The frustration was evident in the face of senior Christian Menounos.
He had just come across the finish line in fourth place at the ECC boys’ cross-country championship meet. He had wanted better after a third-place finish a year ago. But he also realized that his effort was much better than it was on the same course the year before.
He finished the last ECC championship meet of his high school career in 16 minutes, 24 seconds, an improvement over last year by 24 seconds.
As a team, the Centaurs placed third overall with a 98 total which trailed East Lyme (32) and Norwich Free Academy (56).
“It’s pretty good, I was hoping for a top three,” coach Josh Welch said. “We could have seen some more solid performances from the middle of our pack but, overall, it was solid racing.”
Menounos took off fast as the Centaurs enjoyed the first box on the starting grid and the senior sprinted into the lead.
Menounos was right on target for the first mile of the competition, as far as time was concerned, and he did not stray much from those splits.
Griswold sophomore Tycen Labelle and East Lyme junior Sam Leone also managed to pass and finish in front of the senior.
Senior teammate Colton Sallum was equally pleased with his performance as he had a personal best for the course, placing ninth in 16:44.
Both he and Menounos were also named Div. I ECC All-Stars.
A freshman, Lucas Hecker, placed 19th in 18:01 for the Centaurs. Bronson Eddy placed 26th and Harrison Durand 40th to round out the top five.
The good times keep on coming as cross-country teams now prepare for the state championship meet on Sat., Oct. 26 and the State Open championship on Oct. 31.
Girls’ Cross-Country
It was a new experience for Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain but she passed the test. The junior, running in her first ECC girls’ cross-country championship meet, placed eighth overall.
 “I’m happy,” said D’Alleva-Bochain. “I set three goals; I wanted top-10 overall, top-7 in Division-I and 21:15 as a time and I got all of them.”
The eighth-place finish overall and a third-place finish in Div. I meant the first-year cross-country runner earned ECC All-Star honors.
She also just eclipsed her stated time goal by two seconds.
“I lost some confidence during the season, it felt like I was just getting slower. This proved to me that I can stick it out through tough courses. Some people did not think I could beat half these kids and I picked them off one-by-one. I just have to keep working on my list of people that I want to beat, take my summer mileage more seriously and now, I also have higher expectations for States,” she said.
Olivia Tracy placed 27th for the Centaurs followed by Isabella Amlaw in 35th, Kira Greene 38th and Ella Petersen 40th. The Centaurs finished sixth-place as a team with 143 points.
Coach Banas is hopeful that Petersen, who did suffer an injury during the race, will be 100 percent for the Class MM state championship.
“If she is ready to go, I’m actually hoping for a top five or top six in the States,” Banas said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

caption, page 2: Cross-country standouts, from left: Colton Sallum and Christian Menounos and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain, all earned ECC All-Star honors at the ECC championship meet. Photo by Josh Welch/Woodstock Academy)

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