Girls Distance
1000m
Sophomore Bria Benigni had a breakout performance as she sprinted by front-running Kali Holden on the final back straightaway to dash away from the field in a sub-3:00 time that knocked more than two seconds off her PR from a 2nd in Class L. 2021 outdoor Open winner Olivia Birney came up for 2nd, just a little off her PR from 2020 New England, and Holden held off Emily Mrakovcic for 3rd.
1 Bria Benigni 10 Maloney 3:01.87 2:59.56 2 10 2 Olivia Birney 12 Simsbury 3:01.63 3:00.66 2 8 3 Kali Holden 12 Trumbull 2:59.03 3:01.55 2 6 4 Emily Mrakovcic 12 Wilton 3:02.02 3:02.01 2 4 5 Ava Graham 12 Bethel 3:03.05 3:02.17 2 2 6 Brooke Strauss 9 Glastonbury 2:58.32 3:02.79 2 1
1600m
This one projected to be a battle between top seeded Class LL winner Anna Keeley and 5th seeded Class S and 2021 XC Open champ Rachel St. Germain. Keeley opened a small lead early on, but St. Germain made a surge on the fourth lap to get the lead by the halfway mark and run away to her first sub 5:00 official 1600m race (she posted a 4:59.22 two weeks earlier in the NBIGP mile) and the gold. Keeley got the silver with her own big PR, and Sydney Kelleher also smashed her PR while holding off Brooke Strauss and Kelly Jones for the bronze. Anna Omelchenko got 6th while winning the first 1600m section.
1 Rachel St. Germain 12 Somers 5:12.73 4:57.20 2 10 2 Anna Keeley 12 Fairfield Lud 5:05.21 5:01.59 2 8 3 Sydney Kelleher 11 New Milford 5:09.63 5:05.40 2 6 4 Brooke Strauss 9 Glastonbury 5:05.99 5:09.55 2 4 5 Kelly Jones 11 Lauralton Hall 5:15.82 5:09.69 2 2 6 Anna Omelchenko 10 Wilbur Cross 5:16.25 5:11.08 1 1
3200m
After winning the 1600m, Rachel St. Germain was going to be the big favorite in the 3200m, and she rolled to a nearly 12 second PR to capture her double. St. Germain opened up a big lead to win by more than13 seconds. Madelaine Sweeney surged away from Anna Keeley in the second half of the race for the silver in a big PR, and Keely held off Katherine Sanderson and Kathryn Marchand fro the bronze.
1 Rachel St. Germain 12 Somers 11:01.08 10:49.24 10 2 Madelaine Sweeney 12 New Milford 11:11.35 11:02.73 8 3 Anna Keeley 12 Fairfield Lud 10:56.24 11:11.11 6 4 Katherine Sanderson 12 Hall 11:16.92 11:12.76 4 5 Kathryn Marchand 10 Trumbull 11:30.19 11:13.52 2 6 Julianne Teitler 12 Darien 11:19.64 11:17.69 1