Submitted by Matt Diglio. Photos by Charles Lynskey.
On Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, the Haddam Killingworth High School boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Goddard Park in Warwick, RI and competed at the Ocean State Invitational against over 90 teams from RI, NY, NJ, MA and CT.
Senior Seth Freeman in the trails of the Boys Varsity race
The Boys Varsity team placed second overall out of 37 teams and 262 runners in the Division 1 race. They were led by sophomore Matt Jennings who placed 6th in the race with a time of 16:45 over the 3.1 mile course. He was followed across the line by senior Seth Freeman who placed 21st (17:31), then a pack of Cougars all within 10 seconds: junior Christian Uzwiak 29th (17:44), senior Kyle Criscuolo 38th (17:52) and sophomore Fisher Harris 41st (17:54). Rounding out the squad were senior Nate Carlson 50th (18:05) and junior Owen Howes (69th (18:24). The boys team scored 126 points to place second overall as a team behind Brookfield, CT.
The Boys JV team also placed 2nd overall as a team, scoring 53 points and finishing behind Tolland, CT. Leading the way for the Cougars was sophomore Sean Rutledge who placed 7th in a time of 18:27. The next seven HK runners all finished within 30 seconds: Griffin Robinson (8th), Henry Sodergren (10th), Tuckerman Wink (13th), Dan Studzinski (14th), Max Cozean (15th), Nate Petras (17th), and Julian Spector (19th).
Nate Petras, Julian Spector and Tuckerman in the Boys JV race
The Boys Freshman team took home the team title in the freshman race as they placed first overall as a team, scoring 40 points to beat out 17 other teams in the race. The freshmen were led by Dakota Tucker who placed third in the race in a time of 14:20 for the 2.5 mile course. Also finishing in the top 10 was Caleb Freeman 6th (14:28) and Greyson Merola 8th (14:34).
The girls Varsity team placed 3rd out of 26 teams in the Division 1 race scoring 178 points over the 5,000 meter course. The girls were led by senior captain Emma Anziano who placed 11th overall in a time of 20:05. She was followed by her teammate sophomore Meara Bodak who placed 14th in a time of 20:23. Rounding out the team scoring was junior Lauren D’Amico 33rd (21:21), junior Julia Callis 42nd (21:39) and senior Sadie Strom 120th (23:42).
Lauren D’Amico and Julia Callis in the girls Varsity race
The girls JV team also placed 3rd as a team in the JV scoring 87 points. Leading the way for the JV girls team was senior Michaela Flaherty who placed 13th in the race in a time of 24:24. She was followed by teammates: Kathy Melgar 20th (24:50), junior Jasmine Adelberg 21st (24:53), junior Ava Lindell 29th (25:14) and junior Alex Zupan 30th (25:15).
The freshman team also placed 3rd as a team in their race scoring 84 points. Crossing the line first for the freshman girls was Ali Twatchman who placed 6th the race in a time of 17:24 for the 2.5 mile course. Finishing behind her was: Biranna Minervino 21st, Kylie Studzinski 28th, Ava DiMatteo 41st and Ava Tassmer 51st.
The cross country team will next be in action on Wednesday September 26, 2018 as they open their dual meet season at the Shoreline Large School League meet at Indian River Complex in Clinton.
