Girls Distance
1000m
The questions really start piling up once you hit the distance events. The top 2 runners here, both coming in with sub 3:00 seeds, are freshman Brooke Strauss and senior Kali Holden, and they both did the 1000-1600-3200 triple in the Class LL meet. What is their workload for the Open, especially with potentially some very dangerous competition here from 2021 outdoor 800-1600 Open champ Olivia Birney, sub 3:00 runner Emily Mrakovcic, LL close 3rd place finisher Jackie Izzo, and sophomore Bria Benigni who is coming on super fast? Throw in Ava Gattinella and Ava Graham in the top section, and this could be a race for the ages. Weston's Julia Rosenberg was the 2020 winner, and Wilbur Cross's Danae Rivers got the Open record in 2016 of 2:50.26.
1 Brooke Strauss 9 Glastonbury 2:58.32 2 Kali Holden 12 Trumbull 2:59.03 3 Jacqueline Izzo 12 Southington 3:00.40 4 Olivia Birney 12 Simsbury 3:01.63 5 Bria Benigni 10 Maloney 3:01.87 6 Emily Mrakovcic 12 Wilton 3:02.02 7 Ava Gattinella 10 Glastonbury 3:02.90 8 Ava Graham 12 Bethel 3:03.05 9 Tess Wasiolek 10 Branford 3:05.74 10 Calista Mayer 12 Tolland 3:05.99 11 Grace Moriarty 12 Fairfield Lud 3:07.79 12 Hannah Stephenson 11 Farmington 3:10.77 13 Jacqueline Dudus 10 Glastonbury 3:11.69 14 Clara Gahm 10 Guilford 3:11.74 15 Kaylee Gravel 12 East Hampton 3:11.78 16 Meryl Sullivan 12 Daniel Hand 3:14.42 17 Olivia Skapczynski 12 Guilford 3:15.48 18 Meghan Guilbeault 10 Brookfield 3:15.81
1600m
Anna Keeley won a close battle with Brooke Strauss in the LL meet, and then won by much more in the 3200m. Again, the workload is the question for a lot of runners here, as only 3rd-seeded Sydney Kelleher ran just this individual event among the top eight runners. Rachel St. Germain ruled at the XC Open and breezed to Class S 1600-3200 wins and will be one of the favorites trying to push the time below 5:00. Manchester's Kate Hedlund won in 2020 and Wilbur Cross's Danae Rivers set the Open record of 4:52.79 in 2017.
1 Anna Keeley 12 Fairfield Lu 5:05.21 2 Brooke Strauss 9 Glastonbury 5:05.99 3 Sydney Kelleher 11 New Milford 5:09.63 4 Kali Holden 12 Trumbull 5:10.78 5 Rachel St. Germain 12 Somers 5:12.73 6 Mairead Clas 12 Darien 5:13.26 7 Bria Benigni 10 Maloney 5:14.67 8 Kelly Jones 11 Lauralton Hall 5:15.82 9 Elizabeth Bigelow 12 E.O. Smith 5:16.16 10 Anna Omelchenko 10 Wilbur Cross 5:16.25 11 Julia Antony 12 Guilford 5:17.44 12 Jordan Malloy 12 Bacon Academy 5:19.90 13 Kathryn Marchand 10 Trumbull 5:23.68 14 Natalia Kmita 9 Berlin 5:23.96 15 Marenn Ek 12 Avon 5:26.19 16 Adelyn Arroyo 11 Daniel Hand 5:28.32 17 Lauren Doherty 12 New Canaan 5:30.04 18 Chloe Poulos 12 Woodland 5:31.26
3200m
Anna Keeley and Rachel St. Germain are at the top of the charts here, and it stacks up to being a head-to-head duel here decided by a final kick. Again, in this end-of-the-day race, the workload question could be a big factor in sorting out the top six spots, and Madelaine Sweeney has just the 3200m as an individual event though she and Sydney Kelleher are on New Milford's 4th seeded 4x800m squad.
1 Anna Keeley 12 Fairfield Lud 10:56.24 2 Rachel St. Germain 12 Somers 11:01.08 3 Madelaine Sweeney 12 New Milford 11:11.35 4 Brooke Strauss 9 Glastonbury 11:16.07 5 Katherine Sanderson 12 Hall 11:16.92 6 Julianne Teitler 12 Darien 11:19.64 7 Peyton Bornstein 12 Tolland 11:24.91 8 Kali Holden 12 Trumbull 11:27.72 9 Kathryn Marchand 10 Trumbull 11:30.19 10 Kelly Jones 11 Lauralton Hall 11:34.69 11 Mairead Clas 12 Darien 11:35.08 12 Bria Benigni 10 Maloney 11:39.37 13 Alexa Ciccone 10 Cheshire 11:40.30 14 Anna Omelchenko 10 Wilbur Cross 11:46.42 15 Lucy Bergin 11 Glastonbury 11:47.86 16 Isabel Greene 10 New Milford 11:50.38 17 Marenn Ek 12 Avon 11:52.32 18 Shawn Laverty 12 Portland 11:53.77