By Steve Bigham

MANCHESTER – Senior David Rod and sophomore Laura Reid both competed at the CIAC State Open cross country meet held last Friday at Wickham Park in Manchester. The two NHS runners qualified for the event the week before at their respective CIAC class races.

Reid finished 70th overall out of some 250 runners, while Rod finished 135th. It marked the end of what were two fine seasons for the these runners.

Reid, who finished 10th at the league meet three weeks ago, covered the 4000-meter course in 17 minutes, 14 seconds – 18 seconds slower than her performance there the week before.

“I went slower, but my coach (Marsha Caine) said the reason was because we trained to peak at states. She didn’t expect me to make the Open. She said next year she will train me to peak at the State Open,” Reid said. “It was a really good season. It was a lot of fun. I would say making it to the State Open was the highlight. I never thought I was going to make it this year.”

Reid plans to take the winter off before returning for the track and field season in the spring.

Rod came in 135th place, covering the 3.1-mile course in 17:57. A week before, Rod finished 33rd at the CIAC Class LL meet in a time of 17:19.

“I think David began to peak at the right time. Last week, I thought he ran wonderfully in the sectionals. It would have been easier for him if he had been running with a team. He may have lost his focus and that’s not something he usually does,” head coach Rich Pesce said.

Rod and fellow senior, Dan Maxwell, were both all-league selections this year.

CIAC STATE OPEN

TOP 20

 

Boys

 

1. Steve Mucchetti (Ridgefield) 15:43, 2. Andre Laboy (Danbury) 15:58, 3. Jon-Paul Mandalburg (Norwich Free Academy) 16:00, 4. Mike Charron (Griswold) 16:03, 5. Joe Mohn (Immaculate) 16:03, 6. Ahmed Haji (Conard) 16:06, 7. Gavin Coombs (Griswold) 16:08, 8. Mark Oliver (Fitch) 16:09, 9. Michael Seymour (East Hartford) 16:17, 10. Dan O’Loughlin (Danbury) 16:23, 11. David Metzger (Ellington) 16:24, 12. Samuel Angello (Stonington) 16:25, 13. Ken Simone (Foran) 16:26, 14. Chase Pizzonia (Darien) 16:26, 15. Scott Richnavsky (Torrington) 16:27, 16. Sweeney Connor (Danbury) 16:27, 17. John Graham (Woodstock) 16:27, 18. Philip Sherman (Greenwich) 16:28, 19. Jeff Roginielwicz (Derby) 16:28, 20. Tim Andreadis (Cheshire) 16:28.

Girls

 

1. Megan Owen (Killingly) 14:50, 2. Heather Burns (Nonnewaug) 15:27, 3. Melanie Schoor (Suffield) 15:30, 4. Lisa Stublic (Crosby) 15:42, 5. Abbey Sadowski (Griswold) 15:48, 6. Kristina Miner (Suffield) 15:54, 7. Amy Hicks (Woodstock) 16:00, 8. Julie Jakoboski (Tolland) 16:06, 9. Betsy Boucher (Fitch) 16:07, 10. Heather Stanish (Guilford) 16:09, 11. Mallory Keegan (Norwich Free Academy) 16:11, 12. Liz Calle (Danbury) 16:16, 13. Diana Clarke (East Haven) 16:17, 14. Nicole Breves (Ridgefield) 16:19, 15. Jillian Sullivan (Bristol Central) 16:19, 16. Blair Kauffmann (Fitch) 16:20, 17. Kerri McCauliffe (Darien) 16:20, 18. Rebecca Chain (Ridgefield) 16:21, 19. Brena Muller (Guilford) 16:21, 20. Lia Ringquist (William Hall) 16:22.