MANCHESTER – Last year, Lauren Parrett was a freshman cross country runner for Glastonbury and Brooke Strauss was her senior teammate. Strauss won pretty much everything and Parrett followed behind, although not too far behind.
Parrett finished fourth behind Strauss and Tess and Liv Sherry from Conard in Class LL. She was fifth behind all of them plus Old Lyme’s Chase Gilbert at the State Open.
And she was fourth behind Strauss and the Sherrys at the CCC championships last year.
But Strauss and the Sherrys have graduated and now it’s Parrett’s turn. The sophomore won the CCC championship Tuesday on the 5,000-meter course at Wickham Park in 18 minutes, 33 seconds, leading Glastonbury to its 10th CCC team championship and fifth straight. The Guardians had 33 points and placed four runners in the top 10; runner-up Simsbury had 182 points.
“It’s really exciting,” Parrett said. “I was really happy to win it.”
E.O. Smith senior Alex Cook won the boys championship in 16:24, also leading his team to its third straight title with 73 points. Glastonbury finished second (104).
Saturday, Parrett won the large schools race on the same course at the Wickham Invitational in 18:03.
“I was thrilled for what she did,” Glastonbury coach Brian Collins said. “She ran both races alone for most of it. I had no idea what to expect today with the weather we had the last couple of days. But the course was in very good shape.”
Parrett said she has become accustomed to running without Strauss, now at UConn, who pushed her in both training and races last year.
“It feels different from before because Brooke was always in front of me,” Parrett said. “I used her kind of as a pacer. It’s a little different this year because I’m kind of on my own.”
While Parrett cruised to her win, Cook had to hold off hard-charging Avon senior Brahm Bulow (who finished second in 16:26) and Jonah Schulman, a senior from Hall (third in 16:28), coming up the hill to the finish line.
E.O. Smith senior Alex Cook holds off Avon’s Brahm Bulow and Hall’s Jonah Schulman to win the CCC cross country championship Tuesday afternoon at Wickham Park in 16:24. (Photo by Lori Riley)
“I came into it really wanting to win,” said Cook, who finished sixth at the race last year. “I knew there was going to be a lot of strong competition specifically from Hall and Rocky Hill and Avon; those are the guys I’ve been racing closely with all season. I knew it would be tough.
“I tried to go out with them but didn’t want to go out in the front and expend too much energy. I took (the lead) about the last mile or so. I want to say I didn’t look back but I did multiple times. They were close to me. I think I lengthened the gap in the middle of the last mile and at the end, they were closing it again.”
The boys lead pack at the CCC cross country championships Tuesday at Wickham Park. (Photo by Lori Riley)
Cook ran a personal best at Wickham, probably because he was worried about the closing speed of his competitors.
“I think I’ve been consistently ahead of them (in cross country), but not by much,” he said. “Last year they were much stronger track athletes than I was.”
CCC cross country championships
at Wickham Park
Boys
Top 10 teams: 1. E.O. Smith, 73; 2. Glastonbury, 104; 3. Southington, 106; 4. Hall, 123; 5. Avon, 138; 6. Tolland, 190; 7. Bristol Eastern, 237; 8. Simsbury, 260; 9. Rocky Hill, 284; 10. Farmington, 289.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Alex Cook, E.O. Smith, 16:24.52; 2. Brahm Bulow, Avon, 16:26.88; 3. Jonah Schulman, Hall, 16:28.09; 4. Alejandro Juro, Manchester, 16:41.42; 5. Brian Smith, Rocky Hill, 16:46.20; 6. Christopher Campbell, Avon, 16:46.91; 7. Jase Koczur, Bristol Eastern, 16:55.53; 8. Caleb Davis, Simsbury, 16:57.33; 9. Jake Vegiard, Tolland, 16:59.94; 10. Jason Cao, E.O. Smith, 17:07.28.
Girls
Top 10 teams: 1. Glastonbury, 33; 2. Simsbury, 182; 3. Hall, 184; 4. Wethersfield, 206; 5. Southington, 207; 6. Windsor, 243; 7. South Windsor, 246; 8. Manchester, 247; 9. Farmington, 254; 10. RHAM, 257.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Lauren Parrett, Glastonbury, 18:33.09; 2. Sofia Holovatska, South Windsor, 18:52.01; 3. Rebecca Langlais, Tolland, 19:24.56; 4. Carolyn Kamp, Glastonbury, 19:53.15; 5. Olivia McKay, Glastonbury, 19:57.25; 6. Eleanor Riley Larkin, East Catholic, 19:59.02; 7. Maya Donzella, Windsor, 20:00.25; 8. Katherine Cavanaugh, Southington, 20:10.26; 9. Claire Parkin, Glastonbury, 20:13.04; 10. Alexa Nunez, Wethersfield, 20:14.24.
