By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

MySportsResults has enjoyed covering the high school exploits of Connecticut’s finest distance runners and are equally proud of their accomplishments at the NCAA level. This weekend was the National Cross Country Championship for the Division I, II and III where CT was well represented in all three races. 

NCAA Division I XC Championships

RESULTS

WOMEN

The Division I race was hosted by the University of Virginia and held at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia, just outside of Charlottesville. 

Connecticut state 1600m record holder Chloe Scrimgeour, formerly of Conard, West Hartford, led Georgetown to an 18th place in a 31 team field. The Big East Champion finished in 8th place with a time of 19:28.4 over the 6000m course for All American honors. Interestingly, Scrimgeour went under her high school PRs for 3k (9:40.21) and 5k (16:58.85) en route to her 6k finish. By earning All American honors for the first time Chloe improved tremendously from last year when she finished 59th in the National Championship. 

Connecticut can also have a small claim to women’s champion Parker Valby, now running for  University of Florida. The Gator ran for Woodbury Middle School before moving to Florida in high school. She was the one runner that prevented Rochambeau from scoring a perfect 15 points at the 2014 middle school championships. Last year, she led most of the way before being overtaken in the final 500m by eventual champion Katelyn Tuohy of NC State. There was great anticipation of this match up after Valby defeated the Tar Heel to win the Nuttycombe Invite in mid October. Valby went right to the front as expected and broke away after the 1k mark, eventually winning by ten seconds over freshman Doris Lemngole of Alabama in a time of 18:55.2.

UConn was also represented by Chloe Thomas of Onterio, Canada who finished 99th in 20:40.7. 

NC State women’s cross country won a third straight National Championship Championship with 123 points, a single point over Northern Arizona despite missing their #2 runner who was 3rd last year due to a leg injury.

MEN

In the men's 10k race, CT was represented by Wolcott’s Nick Bendtsen, running for Princeton. He led the Tigers to an 11th place finish. The junior moved up steadily the entire race, eventually finishing in 29th place with a time of 29:38.6. As a high school senior, he pushed Gavin Sherry to the CT state record of 4:01.88 in the 1600m, eventually finishing in 4:06.09, breaking the old state record in the process.  About two weeks ago, he finished 4th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships.

The Nutmeg State was also represented in the National Championship race by 

Xavier’s Robbie Cozean of Notre Dame who finished in 119th place in 30:43.5. As a junior in high school, he was the New Balance National Outdoor champion in the 5k.

Bendsten’s teammate Matthew Farrell ran for a non CIAC school Loomis Chaffee but still ran the 2nd fastest time for any CT high schooler of 14:25.23 for 5k. The junior finished 132nd in 30:50.3. 

Eli Nahom, the 2018 State Open cross country champion finished in 156th place for Tennessee with a time of 31:07.4. He was the 5th runner for the Volunteers who finished in 26th in the 31 team field. 

Oklahoma State put on a clinic  in team running with a dominant 4-8-10-12-15, 49 point victory to turn the tables on reigning champs Northern Arizona University.

NCAA Division II XC Championships

RESULTS

WOMEN

At the The Division II Women’s Championships at the the Tom Rutledge Cross Country Course in Joplin, MO, Southern Connecticut made the National meet for the first time in program history by winning the Northeast Regional Championships and finished 30th out of 34 teams

Newtown’s Courtney Henchcliffe led the way for the Owls in 149th place in a time of 22:03.6. Briana Grecco of Thomaston took 164th in 22:11.3.

Other Southern finishers from CT included:

220 Peyton Dauphinais (Seymour) 22:56.6

229 Emilie Noreika (Woodland) 23:08.9

258 Abigail Bajorek (Rockville) 25:47.3

The top CT finisher in the women’s DII meet was Manchester’s Kate Hedlund who is running for University of Colorado Springs. The junior finished 77th in 21:22.3. 

MEN

In the Men's race, Southern Connecticut, the Northeast Regional champions, finished 32nd out of 34 teams. 

Jonathan Volpe of Naugatuck finished 76th to lead the Owls with a time of 30:53.1. Wethersfield’s Owen Gagne was 180th, breaking 32 minutes by .1 seconds. 

Other CT HS alums included 

230 Sophonias Dires (Conard) 32:50.6

245 Jeremy Rivera (Prince Tech) 33:28.3

255 Luca Cazzaniga (Bethel) 34:21.7

259 Sean Barkasy (Manchester) 35:28.2

NCAA Division III XC Championships

RESULTS 

The NCAA DIII Cross Country Championships were held at Big Spring High School in Carlisle, PA. 

WOMEN

Hall graduate Kate Sanderson earned DIII All American honors for MIT by finishing 34th in 21:45.0 over the challenging 6k course. Her team was the Women's Champions at the NCAA East Regional Championship and finished 11th out of 32 teams at the NCAA championships today. 

MEN

Westhill’s Colin McLaughlin led Carnegie Mellon to a 6th place finish in the team standings. The Tartan moved up 29 places in the final 2k to finish 47th in a time of 25:15 over the 8000m course. 

Charles Namiot helped Williams to a 4th place finish by finishing in 52nd place in 25:18.6. The Ridgefield alum moved up steadily all race and was the 3rd finisher for the Ephs. 

Cracking the top 100 was RPI’s Justin Cascio. The Class M runner up for Lewis Mills finished 98th in a time of 25:42.1. The Engineers finished 7th place in the team standings.