BRISTOL — Tuesday’s cross country meet at St. Paul Catholic High in Bristol turned into an old-fashioned gulley-washer as torrents of rain soaked the course and the runners.
The much-anticipated meet between neighboring rivals Naugatuck and Woodland came down to the wire in the girls race, while the Greyhound boys cruised past all the competition.
The Naugatuck boys remained undefeated at 7-0, posting a 17-46 win over Woodland and trouncing St. Paul by a 15-50 margin.
Meanwhile, the Woodland boys picked up a pair of victories to improve to 6-3 on the season. The Hawks defeated St. Paul 15-44 and Sacred Heart 19-44.
Naugy was the only team that didn’t slip and slide across the finish line as Dan Schumacher took first in 15:47 and Mike Uva was right behind in 15:50, the only two runners to break the 16-minute mark.
When the Greyhounds’ Collin Reilly crossed the finish line at the 16:27 mark for third place, the race was pretty much over at that point.
Ian Chamenko took fourth place for Woodland in 16:33, and if there was any doubt in the outcome two more Greyhounds crossed the finish line to end all doubt. John Caruso wrapped up fifth place in 16:36 and Brody Hale finished sixth in 17:18.
Naugatuck wasn’t through just yet as Jake Lisakolski took eighth place in 17:20 and Tyler Hayward pushed himself across the finish line for ninth place in 17:31, just six-tenths of a second ahead of the Hawks’ Joe Reynolds, who finished 10th.
“The conditions were very challenging with torrential rain throughout the race,” Naugatuck head coach Bill Hanley said. “But all the runners from both schools made no excuses about the conditions and ran hard.”
The Naugatuck girls hung on for a 27-28 win over Woodland. The Greyhounds also defeated St. Paul 23-38 to improve to 6-1 on the season.
Woodland picked up wins over St. Paul (21-38) and Sacred Heart (17-43) to move to 6-3 on the year.
The 2.9-mile race saw the Greyhounds’ Jordyn Allen beat out the Hawks’ Mary Sardinskas by 13 seconds (18:33 to 18:46), and they were the only girls to break the 19-minute mark.
Emily Lindsley raced to a third-place finish for St. Paul in 19:03 with Woodland taking the next two spots. Steph Kiley finished fourth for the Hawks in 19:09 with Clara Drozdowski taking fifth in 19:10.
Naugatuck needed an added push if it was going to pull out the victory and the ‘Hounds got just that when Samantha Hilse finished eighth in 19:28, Courtney Morin finished ninth in 19:52 and Madison Beasley wrapped up 10th in 20:08.
That was enough to push Naugy past Woodland by just a mere point as the ‘Hounds survived the muck and the mire at St. Paul.
“The girls race was very exciting,” Hanley said.
The Greyhounds have only one race left in the regular season before this month’s Naugatuck Valley League championship meet. They’ll visit Veteran’s Park in Watertown to take on the Indians, Seymour, Wilby and Crosby on Oct. 10.
Woodland will also compete Oct. 10 at Bucks Hill Park in Waterbury to face Kennedy and Holy Cross.
The league championships will be Oct. 16 in Watertown.
