Hillcrest and Madison cross country runners competed at the Connecticut Middle School State Championships.
Trumbull Public Schools / Contributed photoWhile Madison and Hillcrest may be cross town rivals within Trumbull, hard-working runners from each school traveled together to Wickham Park in Manchester to compete in the Connecticut Middle School State Championships on Nov. 7.
For most of the runners, doe to the pandemic, this was their first season to compete in cross country dual meets let alone a state championship. Wickham Park did not disappoint, providing a backdrop of autumn color along with hilly terrain and chilly temps.
Both Madison and Hillcrest fielded teams in the Varsity and Junior Varsity races.
In the Girls’ Varsity Large School race (2.3 miles), Maura Kane (MMS) finished first for Trumbull and placed 18th with a time of 15:34. Mia Lafaille (HMS) was Trumbull’s second finisher, placing 25th with a time of 15:48. Emma Bomann (HMS) was 45th (16:13). Tula Coppola (MMS) and Samantha Russo (HMS) were 61st (16:35) and 62nd (16:37), respectively. Grace Campbell (MMS) finished 81st (17:00), Brynn Wadhams (HMS) 93rd (17:11), Abigail Horan (HMS) 97th (17:17), and Ashmeen Batra (MMS) 102nd (17:24) with Hadley Taraska (MMS) close behind in 110th (17:31). Maya Robbins-Pianka (HMS) was 115th (17:44) and Paige Whipple (MMS) finished 158th (19:10).
Hillcrest placed 12th and Madison 14th out of 26 teams.
In the Boys’ Varsity Large School race (2.3 miles), Karim Benayed (MMS) placed first for Trumbull and was 28th with a time of 14:38. Aiden Macdonald (MMS) was Trumbull’s second finisher, placing 37th (14:48). Carson Lucia (HMS), Fally Greenwood (MMS), and Nathan Verna (HMS) were 45th (15:02), 50th (15:06), and 51st (15:10), respectively. Jackson Velez (MMS) was 67th (15:27), Jackson Staffaroni (MMS) 82nd (15:43), Ryan Pellicone (HMS), 134th (16:35), Gavin Commisky (HMS), 144th (17:00), Vikram Kumar (HMS) 146th (17:02), and Luca Bivona (MMS) 154th (17:24).
Madison placed 7th and Hillcrest 22nd out of 26 teams.
In the Girls’ Junior Varsity Race (1.7 miles), Emma Fahy (HMS) finished first for Trumbull, placing 23rd with a time of 13:38. Strong performances were also run by Abigail Matera (HMS -34th), Natalie Kehley (HMS - 36th), Sophia Li (HMS - 45th), Maggie Withrow (MMS - 73rd), Margaret Bomann (HMS - 86th), Sofia Henriquez (MMS - 101st), Kaviya Partheepan (MMS - 109th), Anne King (MMS - 112th), Lilly Katragadda (MMS - 113th), Lola Yates (MMS - 117th), and Roxanne Yates (MMS - 124th).
In the Boys’ Junior Varsity Race (1.7 miles), Alexander Maldonado (HMS) finished first for Trumbull, placing 66th with a time of 12:45. Strong performances were also run by Evan Sokolowski (HMS - 69th), Henry Kunkel (MMS - 56th), Logan Velez (MMS - 58th), Henry Heintz (MMS - 60th), Cameron Blazer (MMS - 61st), Asher Congdon (MMS - 76th), Thaddeus Pires (MMS - 79th), and Simrit Batra (MMS - 95th).