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They're Off
The middle school boys and girls are off and running during the Quinebaug Valley Junior Conference. Courtesy photos.
Special to the Putnam Town Crier
The Woodstock boys and girls middle school cross country teams pulled off a clean sweep in the Quinebaug Valley Junior Conference championships held last week at Stonebridge Road Field in Woodstock. Both squads outraced the 12-team fields. The boys edged The Rectory School 44 to 45 and the girls far outpaced second-place Griswold 26 to 67.
Brooklyn’s Brouillard Runs Away with Female Title
Despite a strong team effort by coach Aaron Murray’s Woodstock harriers, the female race belonged to Brooklyn’s Brooke Brouillard who crossed the finish line with the best time of the day, in either race, at 13:12 for the 2.1-mile event. Brouillard finished exactly one minute in front of second-place finisher Kate Boshka of Woodstock who posted a 14:12 time.
Brouillard, who is the area’s newest running sensation, is the real deal. She was recently coming off another first-place finish, which she accomplished at the junior high school meet of the prestigious Wickham Park Invitational. Her coach Dave Partyka characterizes her as a hard worker with loads of talent. As an eighth grader from Brooklyn she’s currently contemplating her choice of high school for next season.
The champion Woodstock team had its success because it ran as a team, placing runners in second, third, fourth, seventh and 12th place. Running behind Boshka to the finish line were Hannah Matsas (3rd – 14:24), Aria Gianfriddo (4th – 14:43), Eden Law (7th – 14:56) and Megan Gohn (12th – 15:16).
Boys Race Decided by a Single point
Despite getting off to a confusing start as to the direction of the course, the QVJC boys’ race was literally a fight to the finish with Woodstock Middle School edging The Rectory School by the narrowest of margins, one point.
Nick Smith of Rectory was the medalist, finishing first in a time of 13:14, edging Woodstock’s Ryan Wojciechowski by a mere two seconds. The two runners waged a battle over the 2.1-mile layout along with a pair of Rectory runners, Nikkei Rutty (3rd – 13:21) and Yudai Yamakawa (4th – 13:23).
Behind Wojciechowski for Woodstock were Jake Racicot (8th – 13:48), Ryan Pollock (10th – 14:05), Aidan Boisvert (11th – 14:07) and Spencer Collins (15th – 14:19). The team effort provided the margin of victory for Woodstock.
Putnam Middle School Results
Putnam Middle School boys finished 9th in the 12-team event. The team’s top finisher was Connor Holloman, who placed 6th and posted a time of 13:32. He was the lone Putnam harrier in the Top 25. Rachel Hultzman finished 20th in the girls race with a time of 15:27. Like her counterpart Holloman, she was the only Putnam female in the Top 25. The Putnam girls’ team placed 7th in the 12-team field.
In the girls’race the local contenders included: 4. Pomfret: 8 Siegmond Clara, 15:02.5; 18 Bates Joshlyn, 15:27.0; 22 Leah Randolph, 15:52.5; 24 Ashwell Tori, 15:59.4; 26 Sarantopoulos Emma, 16:03.3
7. Putnam: 20 Rachel Hultzman, 15:37.7; 28 Victoria Dias, 16:06.6; 70 Kayleigh Lyons, 17:21.6; 91 Jillian Romagnano, 18:06.2; 94 Anna Farland, 18:12.1
In the boys’ race the local contenders included:
2. Rectory: 1 Nick Smith, 13:14.4; 3 Nikkei Rutty, 13:21.6; 4 Yudai Yamakawa, 13:23.8; 14 Isaac Tang, 14:17.8; 23 Anthony Garcia, 14:40.1. 3. Pomfret: 7 Rogers John, 13:44.4; 12 Bates Eric, 14:13.5; 17 Roethlein, 14:21.7; 25 Casper Cannon, 14:44.8; 29 Alessandro Grant, 15:15.4.
9. Putnam: 6 Connor Holloman, 13:32.8; 34 Michael Ionkin, 15:28.7; 50 Carter LeBlanc, 16:12.5; 54 Andrew Kustov, 16:21.6; 66 Victor Krivosheev, 17:16.4.