CIAC Open Preview: Running More Numbers from Divisionals

Girls Open Championship Scorecard

The data from the Class meets show that Class LL winner Glastonbury will be the favorite on Saturday, with Class L winner and reigning champ New Milford close behind. Glastonbury was the projected winner last year also, but the unexpected (to us) return of Green Wave star Claire Daniels helped New Milford claim the title, with Sydney Kelleher placing 3rd and entering this year's Open with the second fastest time at Divisionals behind Trumbull's Katie Marchand. Glastonbury's Brooke Strauss is the top returner from last year and recently returned to the Guardians lineup to help spur the team's winning effort behind frontrunner Kelley MacElhiney in Saturday's Class LL race.

Note that very large 1-5 splits usually means that a team's places at the back will be accumulating a larger amount of points behind the big pack of finishers. Here, for instance, Wilton has a lesser speed rating than New Fairfield, Cheshire, and EO Smith, but the Raiders' very close pack compression should help them do well. Guilford had a slightly lower speed rating than Pomperaug in the Class MM meet but came in 1st by 18 points because of its much better compression. There can a huge variety in the makeup in the field for a race though, and teams like Hall and Mercy in the 18th and 19th spots will actually be helped by having a looser compression as some of their top runners will score well far up in this big field.

Team
Class
Avg. Time
1-5 Split
Estimated Speed rating
Glastonbury
LL
20:00.0
1:40
103.0 (33)
New Milford
L
20:11.6
2:20
99.2 (47)
New Canaan
L
20:26.4
1:31
94.2 (30)
Ridgefield
LL
20:28.8
2:07
93.4 (42)
New Fairfield
M
20:47.8
2:48
87.2 (56)
Cheshire
L
20:48.6
2:43
86.8 (54)
EO Smith
L
20:52.4
2:54
85.8 (58)
Wilton
L
20:57.6
1:10
84.0 (23)
Trumbull
LL
20:57.6
3:29
83.8 (70)
Somers
S
21:12.0
2:06
79.0 (42)
Haddam-Killingworth
SS
21:15.4
1:18
77.8 (26)
Southington
LL
21:15.8
2:03
77.8 (41)
Greenwich
LL
21:16.4
1:51
77.6 (37)
Lyme-Old Lyme
S
21:43.8
2:43
68.6 (54)
Newtown
LL
21:48.2
1:28
67.0 (29)
Pomperaug
MM
21:48.2
2:49
67.0 (56)
Guilford
MM
21:48.8
0:51
66.8 (17)
Hall
LL
21:51.8
2:52
65.2 (57)
Mercy
M
22:12.8
2:48
58.8 (56)
Plainville
SS
22:35.0
1:13
51.4 (24)


Girls Individual Top 12 from Class Divisionals

RANKTIMEATHLETE/TEAMGRADEMEET DATE PLACE
119:00.00
Trumbull High School
2024
219:07.00
New Milford High School
2023
319:12.00
Old Lyme High School
2026
419:15.00
Cheshire High School
2024
519:24.00
E.O. Smith High School
2024
619:25.00
Ridgefield High School
2023
619:25.00
Newington High School
2024
819:31.00
Lauralton High School
2023
919:32.00
Ridgefield High School
2023
1019:33.00
Wilbur Cross High School
2024
1119:40.00
New Canaan High School
2025
1219:41.00
Glastonbury High School
2023