Cross Country crosses the finish line with strong performances in FCIACs and States

By Katie Donovan and Kate McMahon
Reporters

On Thursday, October 24th at Waveny, the Girls’ and Boys’ New Canaan Cross Country teams competed at Waveny Park for FCIACS. On Saturday the 26th, they competed again at Wickham Park in Manchester for States, concluding both of their seasons.

The Rams had a successful run at FCIACS, placing 6th out of 17 for the boys and 6th out of 14 for the girls. Junior Spencer Lyman was the New Canaan athlete to watch placing 16th in the race, making the all-FCIAC Second Team. His time of 16:27 in the 5k run helped lead the Rams to 6th place out of 17, capping a successful season. “We all trained so hard throughout the season, and our performances really showed that,” Lyman said about FCIACS.

On the girls team, junior Emma Rosenstein had a finished at 16th with a time of 15:46 in the 4k, continuing her streak of high placement, despite this season being her debut in cross country. Rosenstein also made the all-FCIAC Second Team, just only four seconds over making First Team honors.

The Cross Country Boys closed their season on a positive note, taking tenth place overall out of 24 in States. Lyman again took the top spot for New Canaan, followed by junior Alex Ellsworth with a time of 17:42 in his 5k. Lyman took 15th with a time of 17:16 in his 5k run. Fellow teammate Ellsworth took 27th with a time of 18:33 in the 5k.

The girls also had a solid performance at States placing 11th overall out of 20 teams. Emma Rosenstein again led the Rams with a 41st place finish at a time of 21:36 on a 3.1 mile race. Senior Elizabeth Perry nabbed 44th place with a time of 21:46 on her 3.1 mile race.

States proved to be more of a challenge than FCIACS as the course was very unfamiliar. “There were so many hills and it was a lot longer than the FCIAC course,” Emma said. Despite this, “the team did really well and loved the distance and challenge.”

The boys are pleased with the outcome of their season. “It was our final race as a team for the season,” Spencer Lyman said, “and we stayed tough and made the most of it.”