Strauss, ghs Girls XC Conquer Conference

Freshman Brooke Strauss continues to impress during her first season on the high school cross country trails.

​Last Tuesday, Strauss won the CCC Girls’ Cross Country championship at Wickham Park in Manchester, running a course-best 19:20. She crossed the finish line moments before Halls’ Katherine Saunderson, who was the runner-up with a time of 19:21.
The freshman’s strategy late in the race was simple.

“I just didn’t want her to catch me,” said a laughing Strauss, “It felt good. I don’t think I had as good of a finish as other races but I obviously did enough to get a big enough lead beforehand.”

Strauss took the lead and never looked back, something her coach said is not uncommon.

In most races this season she has raced from the front,” said head coach Brian Collins, “Even something like this where it was a little bit closer, she knows she can dig down and go a little deeper.”

Jackie Caron finished 6th (20:04) and Ava Gattinella 8th (20:15) as the Guardians won the overall event, a full 27 points ahead of Hall (41-69).

All told, the Guardians had eight runners finish in the top 25, including Jackie Dudus (11th), Lucy Bergin (15th), Kelley MacElhiney (19th), Haley Evans (21st), Olivia Dickson (25th)

Glastonbury also completely dominated the Junior Varsity race, placing in the top seven positions, led by winner Sarah Ongley. Ongley was followed by teammates Kylie Hillard, Lili Garbett, Mikayla Nedder, Annika Hurley, Hanna Caiola, and Ellen Chen. Jocelyn Wolf followed in 9th. 

Next up for the talented group of runners is the Class LL State Championship, this Saturday (Oct. 30th), also at Wickham Park in Manchester. The meet starts at 1:30 p.m.

Strauss and a robust roster give Collins a lot of depth, “Having a deep team gives them all someone to run with each and every day. It pushes them. A lot of our kids that ran that JV race would be on someone else's varsity team. These girls have put in the time and effort. If someone is sick or hurt, the next girl steps up. We’ve been deep in other years, but this is probably one of our deepest teams.”