State Opens

Jeanne Theleen and Harrison Katz will be competing on Friday in the State Opens. This race includes the best runners from Saturday's Class championships. The boys race will begin at 2 PM and the girls race will be at 2:45 PM.

Anybody who attended Saturday's meet is welcome to join us on Friday to cheer on Harrison and Jeanne. The bus will leave after E-block and we will meet outside of the new gym. I have sent a notice out to all of the teachers so they should know that you are missing, but talk to them about making up any missed assignments.

Directions:
Take I-84 east to exit 60. At the end of the exit, take a left. The park will be on your right, about a 1/4 mile down the road.

I look forward to seeing all of you on Friday.

Class L Championship Results

In the mud and the rain yesterday, our Pomperaug Cross Country teams raced their final races of the year. The boys finished 7th while the girls finished 9th.

In our first race of the day, Harrison Katz once again lead the boys. Harrison finished in 17th place with a time of 17:26. This performance qualifies Harrison for the State Opens. Phil Critelli was our second runner, finishing 34th with a time of 18:07. Jake Critelli finished 51st with a time of 18:26 while Eric Brenn was close behind him in 52nd place with a time of 18:29. Marc Romano finished 62nd with a time of 18:39 while Austin Delaney finished 77th (18:56) and Matt Letho finished 86th (19:23). Congratulations on a good season and a strong finish.

In the girls race, Jeanne Theleen finished 5th, earning her second straight All-State honors. Jeanne ran the muddy course in a time of 17:00. Following Jeanne was Katie Whitney (50th, 19:11), Katie Noel (55th, 19:18), Jessi Johnson (61st, 19:35), Olivia Lawson (64th, 19:38), and Kizzy Donnelly (93rd, 20:32). The girls 9th place finish is their highest finish in Class L since 2002 and their lowest point total since 1999. Congratulations on a good race and a good year.

With Jeanne Theleen's fifth place finish, she becomes the first girl since Ann Culluagh (1985 - 1987) to finish in the top ten of a championship race two years in a row. Jeanne and Ann are the only two girls to be named All-State runnes on two separate occasions. Congratulations Jeanne on a well deserved honor. Jeanne will be running on Friday at the State Opens at Wickham Park.

Class L Championships are still on

The Class L Championships are still on for today. I look forward to seeing all of you at the meet.

Class L Championships

On Saturday, we will be running our Class L championships at Wickham Park. (In Manchester, CT.) The boys will be racing at 11:30 while the girls will be racing at 12:00. The bus will leave Pomperaug at 9:00. Everybody is invited to attend, although only varsity will be racing. Anybody who attends the meet on Saturday is eligible for leaving school early the following Friday to watch the State Open championships.

Directions:
Take I-84 east until exit 60. At the end of the exit, take a left. The park entrance will be 1/4 mile down the road on the right. There will be a $7 parking fee.

JV Championships

Hard to believe, but today marked the end of the cross country season for most of our team. For some of our seniors, today marked the end of their high school cross country career. This made today a bittersweet day.

We had many good performances today at the JV Championship race. It began with a strong showing by the boys. Marc Romano lead the way with a 6th place finish (17:54). Following Marc was Mitch Delaney (8th, 17:56), Nic Bebe-Center (16th, 18:21), Matt McDonald (31st, 18:43), Tyler Kniery (43rd, 19:05), Jon Bauer (45th, 19:09), and Chris Greco (52nd, 19:23).

The girls were lead by Jessica Urquhart's 13th place finish (19:23). Following Jessica was Kathleen Riedel (14th, 19:24), Mel Urquhart (37th, 20:22), Chloe Laverack (48th, 20:58), Casey Volanth (74th, 22:16), and Chelsea Lawlor (75th, 22:17).

Congratulations on a good race and a good season.

Sub Varsity Championship Race

On Tuesday, October 23, the JV runners will have thier last race of the season. This JV championship will be held at Bethel High School. The boys race is at 4 PM and the girls race is at 4:30 PM. I hope to see all of you there.

Directions:
Take 84 West to exit 9. Take a left and go under Route 84. Go to the stop sign, take a right onto Route 6. Go to the traffic light (past the garden center), take a left at the light onto Old Hawleyville Road. Go to the second stop sign and take a right onto Plum Tree Road. Go by Blue Jay Orchard, at next traffic light take a left. Go up the hill to the school.

SWC Championships

Congratulations on a good finish to the SWC season. In two competitive races, the boys and girls had a good showing today. The boys finished 3rd overall while the girls finished 6th. We had two runners make the All-Conference team and three runners were the second team All-Conference.

In the boys race, Harrison Katz lead the way with an 8th place finish and a time of 16:29. Following Harrison was Matt Letho (16th, 17:06), Colin McCrory (18th, 17:10), Eric Brenn (21st, 17:17), Phil Critelli (34th, 17:52), Austin Delaney (35th, 17:53), and Jake Critelli (36th, 17:55). The 3rd place finish is the boy's best finish since 2004.

In the girls race, Jeanne Theleen lead the way with a 3rd place finish and a time of 15:58. Following Jeanne was Casey Ciaccio (30th, 18:02), Katie Whitney (41st, 18:35), Katie Noel (42nd, 18:36), Jessi Johnson (43rd, 18:39) and Olivia Lawson (57th, 19:04). Congratulations on a good race.

While this ends the SWC season for varsity, we still have the JV championships and Class L championships to look forward to. Good luck at the remaining meets.

SWC Championships

The SWC championships are this Thursday at Bethel High School. The boys race is at 4 PM and the girls race is at 4:30 PM.

Directions
Take 84 West to exit 9. Take a left and go under Route 84. Go to the stop sign, take a right onto Route 6. Go to the traffic light (past the garden center), take a left at the light onto Old Hawleyville Road. Go to the second stop sign and take a right onto Plum Tree Road. Go by Blue Jay Orchard, at next traffic light take a left. Go up the hill to the school.

Nonnewaug Results

Congratulations on an inspiring day. From the JV races to the varsity races, we had very impressive races. We had three individuals winning their races (Harrison Katz, Jake Critelli, and Kizzy Donnelly), the girls varsity team finished 2nd and the boys varsity won the invitational. It doesn't get much better than this.

The day began with the girls JV team roaring out and setting the tone for the rest of the day. Kizzy Donnelly and Jessica Urquhart lead the way with a one-two finish in their race. (Kizzy ran a 23:39 and Jess ran a 23:41 over the 3.1 mile course.) They were followed by Kathleen Riedel's 3rd place finish (23:59), Mel Urquhart's 5th place finish (24:43), Victoria DeRosa's 6th place finish (24:44) and Chloe Laverack's 12th place finish (25:11). This lead the girl's JV team to win the JV race.

If that wasn't impressive enough, the boys JV team dominated their race by taking the first five places in their race. Jake Critelli lead for the entire race, winning with a time of 17:57. He was followed by Matt McDonald's 2nd place finish (18:30), Mitch Delaney's 3rd place finish (18:38), Nick Bebe-Center's 4th place finish (18:38), and Tyler Kniery's 5th place finish (18:48). Also medaling in the JV race was Chris Tinley (13th, 19:31) and Jason Adams (14th, 19:32).

Our varsity teams continued with the inspiring performances. With a strong finishing kick, Harrison Katz passed Kyle Courtney of Litchfield in the final straight away to win the Nonnewaug Invitational in a time of 16:51. He was followed by Matt Letho (6th, 17:16), Phil Critelli (7th, 17:28), Colin McCrory (13th, 17:46), Eric Brenn (16th, 17:51), Austin Delaney (17th, 17:54), and Marc Romano (20th, 18:02). With these times, the boys won the Nonnewaug Invitational, their first since 2003.

In the final race of the day, the girls team raced to a 2nd place finish. Jeanne Theleen lead the way, finishing 2nd with a time of 19:15. While she was battling Anna Shields for the lead, the rest of the girls fought their way through the field to beat out Nonnewaug for second place by one point. Jessi Johnson finished 19th (22:13), followed by Emily Pattison (20th, 22:19), Katie Whitney (25th, 22:35), Casey Ciaccio (31st, 23:05), Olivia Lawson (32nd, 23:12), and Katie Noel (42nd, 23:59).

While the top runners were the most visable signs of our success at Nonnewaug, it was the performances of all of our runners that was a true indication of our success. Many of the JV runners ran races that were faster than most of their races this year. We had ten girls run this 5K course in under 25 minutes while seventeen boys ran their race under 20 minutes and 27 boys were under 22 minutes. Our Pomperaug Cross Country program has matured into a strong team, from top to bottom.

I am proud of all your performances and how well you behaved at the invitational. Enjoy your accomplishments and remember how you felt today as you finish up your season over the next few weeks.

Here is a link to the results of the Nonnewaug Invitational.

Nonnewaug Invitational

The Nonnewaug Invitation will be this Friday (October 12) at Nonnewaug High School. Everybody is running at this meet. This is always a nice meet (especially when it doesn't rain) and a good tuneup for the SWC and JV championships.

Race schedule:
3:15 - Girls JV
3:45 - Boys JV
4:15 - Boys Varsity
4:45 - Girls Varsity
5:15 - Awards ceremony

We will be back by 6 PM.

Directions (taken from www.pomperaug.com):
Take Route 6 North. Go through the middle of Woodbury. Go by the North Green. Go one to two more miles. Middle Road Turnpike is on the right. Turn right. Stay on Middle Road Turnpike. Take your first left which is Minortown Rd. Nonnewaug High School is on the left.

New Milford Results

Today we finished up our dual meet season with two wins and a loss for both the boys and girls teams. It was a fast course, with many runners having personal bests today.

The boys lost to New Milford 15 to 48 but beat Weston 23 to 38 and Notre Dame 15 to 50. Harrison Katz lead the way with an 8th place finish (16:19). Following Harrison was Matt Letho (16:23, 9th), Phil Critelli (16:36, 12th), Eric Brenn (16:36, 13th), Colin McCrory (16:45, 14th), Marc Romano (16:58, 15th), and Austin Delaney (17:07, 16th). With these victories, the boys finish their season with a record of 11-2, their best record since 2003.

The girls lost to New Milford 21 to 40 but beat Weston 23 to 34 and Notre Dame 23 to 36. Jeanne Theleen won the race with a time of 14:52. Following Jeanne was Emily Pattison (16:22, 8th), Jessi Johnson (16:40, 14th), Casey Ciaccio (16:41, 15th), Katie Whitney (16:50, 18th), Katie Noel (17:05, 21st), Olivia Lawson (17:09, 23rd). With these victories, the girls finish their season with a record of 9-4, their best record since 2005.

Congratulations on a successful dual meet season. As we enter into the championship season, we are hitting our peak and improving up all of our performances. This is the most exciting time of the year. Good luck to all of you over the next few weeks.

New Milford Meet

We will be running at New Milford on Tuesday. As always, the boys will be running sometime between 4:30 and 4:45, with the girls starting about 30 minutes after the boys. As long as they haven't changed the course, the New Milford course is fan friendly and flat. Here are directions to New Milford High School:

Take Route 67 West toward Roxbury. Follow 67 to the end. Take a left onto Route 7 (south) The school is on Route 7 on the right.
or... Take I-84 west. Take exit 7. Take Route 7 North For 20 minutes. The school is on Route 7 on the left.

Wickham Invitational Results

On one of the hottest days that we have ever seen at Wickham Park, the Pomperaug cross country team had some good, tough, and in some cases, painful, performances. With temperatures around 87 degrees, 14 runners (from other schools) were brought to the hospital with dehydration and the championship races were cancelled due to the heat. These were the conditions in which we ran.

The highlight of the day was Jeanne Theleen's 4th place finish in the seeded race. Jeanne ran with the lead pack throughout the race and finished with a time of 17:02. This helped propel our girls to a 14th place finish. While the heat did affect the girls, the varisty put in a gutsy performance. Casey Ciaccio finished 64th (19:31), Jessica Urquhart finished 94th (20:06), Jessi Johnson finished 118th (20:32), Katie Whitney finished 120th (20:34), Emily Pattison finished 124th (20:38), and Katie Noel finished 124th (20:38).

While the boys were not at full strength, they still performed very well and finished 7th in the seeded race. Phil Critelli lead the way with a 38th place finish (19:00). He was followed by Jake Critelli (48th, 19:14), Austin Delaney (51st, 19:17), Matt Letho (64th, 19:31), Matt McDonald (92nd, 19:54), Marc Romano (113th, 20:08), and Eric Brenn (267th, 22:14).

There were also strong performances in the JV races. For the girls, Hannah Holbrook lead with a time of 21:03. She was followed by Kizzy Donnelly (21:25), Mel Urquhart (21:33), and Ashley Koenig (27:28).

The JV boys were lead by Jon Bauer's 51st place finish (19:34). Closely following Jon was Mitch Delaney (53rd, 19:45), Jason Adams (99th, 20:27), Chris Greco (101st, 20:30), and Tyler Kniery (108th, 20:37).

On a brutally hot day, we performed well. I know that we are placing ourselves in a position to run well in our championship races.

Full varsity results are posted at www.mysportsresults.com.

Wickham Invitational

The Wickham Invitational will be held this Saturday at Wickham Park. The bus will leave the school at 9:30 and the race schedule is as follows:

11:50 - Girls JV
12:10 - Boys JV
2:15 - Girls Varsity
2:45 - Boys Varsity

We should be home between 5 and 5:30.

Directions: Take I-84 east towards Hartford. Take exit 60. At the end of the exit, take a left. The park entrance will be on your right after crossing over the highway.

October 2 Results

Today we passed a few milestones. Harrison Katz won the first boy's race for Pomperaug since Eric Brenn in 2005 at Stratford. Also, the boys have surpassed their win totals from the past two seasons. The girls also suprassed their win total from last year.

The boys beat both Immaculate and Masuk by a score of 16 to 47. Harrison Katz finished 1st with a time of 17:07. The rest of varsity was Matt Letho (17:26, 2), Eric Brenn (17:37, 3), Phil Critelli (17:45, 4), Colin McCrory (17:50, 7), Austin Delaney (17:55, 8), and Jake Critelli (18:14, 9).

The girls lost to Immaculate 27 -30. The girls beat Laurelton Hall 20 - 1 and Masuk 19 - 48. Jeanne Theleen finished 2nd with a time of 16:11. The rest of varsity was Emily Pattison (18:19, 7), Casey Ciaccio (18:23, 8), Olivia Lawson (18:50, 10), Katie Noel (19:04, 12), Jessi Johnson (19:04, 13), and Kizzy Donnelly (19:05, 14).

Congratulations on a good race.