Charlie McGuire, Reporter
Photo by Gabrielle Savelli
On October 15th, the New Canaan Girls Cross Country Team won their first FCIAC Title in 29 years. Afterwards, the girls moved on to win the Connecticut Class L State Championship.
The Girls 5000m Class L Championship, held at Whickham Park, is a much more difficult setting than previous courses. Coach Jeffrey Brentson shared his thoughts on Whickham. “Whickham Park is a challenging course to say the least, and we’ve been trying to keep the girls off it because it can really just burn a team out,” he said.
This is the 42nd year Whickham Park has hosted the Connecticut State Championship, with 280 acres of mixed terrain. “It’s probably the premier difficult course, maybe in at least southern New England,” according to CT Insider.
The Rams strategy of leaving Whickham for last has been shown over the course of the season, with courses like Waveny Park, Trumbull Cross Country Course, and Darien High School Stadium East being where most of the meets are located.
Photo by Gabrielle Savelli
The result in the Class L Championship proved the Rams overcame this difficult course. Junior Sienna De Kanter took home first place, with a time of 19:50:40, with three more runners, Freshman Mairead Greiner (20:15:80), Sophomore Gabrielle Savelli (20:22:80) and Sophomore Bridget De Kanter (20:35:40) in the top twenty. These four girls all sealed the win by packing the top of the chart with New Canaan Rams.
Coach Brentson reflected on the season. “This team has really grown from the beginning of the season, and that definitely contributed to our success.”
