FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. Runners and teams from Fairfield County communities figure to be among the top contenders at Saturdays state cross country championship at Wickham Park in Manchester.
Racing is scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m. in the Class M boys race. The Class SS girls race ends the racing at 3:40 p.m.
Fairfield Prep senior Connor Rog is the pre-race favorite in the boys Class LL meet. Rog was the runner-up last year, and is undefeated this year. Staples Henry Wynne, the conference champion, Brien McMahons Chris Madaffari and Westhills Sam Lagasse also figure to be among the top runners in Class LL. Fairfield Prep should also be in the running for the team championship. The boys race begins at 1 p.m.
Conference champion Abby Markowitz leads a strong Greenwich team in the Class LL girls race. The Cardinals finished second in the league meet behind Ridgefield, which will also compete in Class LL. Westhills girls, led by conference runner-up Nicole Ambrosecchio, are coming off a strong fourth place showing at the league meet. Fairfield Ludlowe, Norwalk and Brien McMahon will also have runners in the Class LL girls race.
Fairfield Wardes Harry Warnick, who finished second behind Wynne in the conference championships, is one of the top contenders in the Class L boys race. The gun for boys race goes off at 11:25. Darien, Fairfield Ludlowe, New Canaan, Norwalk and Wilton also will compete in the Class L boys race. The Blue Wave are expected to challenge for the team title.
The girls race in Class L goes off at 11:55 a.m. Wilton and Fairfield Warde figure to be among the top girls teams. Darien and New Canaan will also compete in the race.
Joel Barlows girls will compete in the Class MM girls race at 10:50. The boys are in the Class M field at 9:15. Logan Fulton, the South-West Conference champion runner-up, figures to be among the top runners in the race. Emily Winter paced the Barlow girls in the South-West Conference race.
Westons boys will also run in the Class M boys race. The Trojans won Class SS titles in 2006, 2008 and 2009. David Stankiewicz and Noah Krassin have been Westons top runners most of the season, and may be one of the teams in the chase for class championship. Westons girls will compete in the Class M championships beginning at 9:45.
The top runners advance to the state open championships on Nov. 4 at Wickham Park. The New England championships are on Nov. 12. Results of Saturdays state meets will be posted on www.casciac.org.
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