CT XC Early Season Outlook

CT Girls Outlook by Class

Class LL

Glastonbury won a fairly narrow decision over Hall and Ridgefield (73-88-95) in 2021 before going on to finish 2nd at the Open and 3rd in the New England championship. Nearly everyone could be back for the Guardians this year, and based strictly on the results of expected returning runners from the end of last year, Glastonbury is far ahead of all the rest of the teams in the state. But we will need to see how the Guardians' roster fills out (especially in regards to frontrunner Brooke Strauss who did not run last spring), and already during very early action, some large changes have developed for the team. Ridgefield will be missing last year's Class LL winner Katherine Rector, but most of the squad is back, and the Tigers begin the season as favorites in the FCIAC league over Greenwich. Hall and Trumbull graduated their top two runners, but they also should be battling among the top 5 teams in LL. Danbury could also be an interesting team to watch as this year's big sophomore group develops, and we will be looking out for how Southington builds the back of its lineup. Conard's sophomore Sherry twins will not be on the run this fall but will keep things going swimmingly nonetheless.

Top Teams by Average Speed Rating for Returning Runners:  Glastonbury (106.4), Ridgefield (95.8), Greenwich (84.8), Hall (77.6), Trumbull (68.0), Amity (57.0)

Top Returning Runners by Speed Ratings:  Brooke Strauss (Glastonbury) 125, Esme Daplyn (Greenwich) 114, Anna Omelchenko (Wilbur Cross) 113, Jacqueline Caron (Glastonbury) 108, Deirdre Flanagan (Ridgefield) 106, Georgia Keller (Ridgefield) 106, Ava Gattinella (Glastonbury) 104, Nell Grant (Amity) 103, Jessica Lombardo (Southington) 100

Class L

Last year New Milford swept up the titles in the SWC league, Class L, CT Open, and New England championship, so it had to be considered a full and very successful year. The Green Wave lost two of its top 3 with Madelaine Sweeney and Claire Daniels moving on, but 2021 SWC and LL winner Sydney Kelleher has enough talent behind her to enter the season as favorites for the L title again. Some development will be needed at the back to retain the Open title. New Caanan got overrun by freshman last year as Radea Raleva and Charlotte Moor rose to the top for the Rams, and they have more sophomore company behind them on the squad this year. Nothing has stopped EO Smith junior Gabriella Hernandez recently, and with fellow sophomore Alexis Buskey, she could have have eyes on the L crown. Alexa Ciccone's Cheshire squad needs a fair amount of development, but the Ram junior should be in the hunt for a win in L.

Class MM

East Lyme finished 3rd behind Guilford and Woodstock Academy in Class L last year, but the Viking varsity runners are all back on a nicely balanced and deep squad. Guilford lost its top 2 of Julia Antony and Elizabeth Skapczynski, so the Grizzlies will need some upward movement this year. Woodstock Academy lost frontrunner Linsey Arends and might well be battling with the B teams -- Bethel, Berlin, Brookfield -- for a top 5 place this year. Berlin sophomore Natalia Kmita is the top returning runner from last year's Class MM race, and Bethel senior Yee-Ying Ng is the top returner from the Open.

Top Teams by Average Speed Rating for Returning Runners:  East Lyme (79.2), Guilford (70.0), Bethel (56.4), Berlin (53.4), Brookfield (53.4),Woodstock Academy (44.0)

Top Returning Runners by Speed Ratings:  Yee-Ying Ng (Bethel) 108, Natalia Kmita (Berlin) 100, Alex Suchy (Guilford) 89, Isabelle Paggioli (East Lyme) 89, Lauren Brule (Woodstock Academy) 84, Meghan Guilbeault (Brookfield) 83, Claire Moulton (Jonathan Law) 82, Kennedy Holsapple (East Lyme) 81,

Class M

This is one group that seems pretty cut and dried, as Sacred Heart Academy won by a lot last year and the SHA Sharks have their have their top 6 back, led by M's top returner Kristina Ponzio. Last year's runner-up Tolland lost L's 1st and 2nd place finishers Peyton Bornstein and Callista Mayer to graduation. The rest of the teams besides the Sharks will need to fill out their squads before we can get an idea of how well they are set.

Class SS

Haddam-Killingworth won out over East Hampton by 50-61 last year, and both teams lost some top runners such as the Cougars' Brianna Minervino and Ava DiMatteo and the Bellringers' Kaylee Gravel. This Class is shaping up to again be a pretty close battle between the two teams, though HK has already shown some promising developments in early season. Top returners are Coventry's Alexandra Magrey and HK's Isabella Beradino following the departure of Woodland's Chloe Poulos and EH's Gravel.

Class S

Somers won a fairly close 48-66 battle with Bolton last year in Class S, and even with the loss of the CT's top runner Rachel St. Germain, the Spartans look ready to march to another title in 2022. Somers sophomore Stephanie Burzynski is the top S returner from the Open and Immaculate's Keelin Bremner is the top returner from the Class S meet. Bolton lost some key runners including S 2nd place finisher Megan Minicucci and like all of the teams will have some work to do to fill out this year's group.