BEACON FALLS — Hot temperatures didn’t stop the Woodland cross country teams from extending their winning streaks on Tuesday afternoon in Torrington.
With temps running in the 80s, the Hawks improved to 9-0 on both the boys and girls sides with victories over Crosby, Torrington and Wolcott.
“It was probably between 85 and 90 on the course in Torrington,” Woodland head coach Jeff Lownds said. “Not exactly ideal for a cross country meet.”
But the Hawks made the best out of the conditions. Prior to the meet, Lownds said the coaching staff was looking at places earned in the meet, and not running times given the weather forecast — and Woodland didn’t disappoint.
The girls team continues to impress, with the squad taking third through eighth to dominate the field from a team perspective. What’s more, the younger runners continue to put up solid times.
Sophomore Emma Slavin took third overall in 22:30, while freshman Jaden Young was fourth (22:50), sophomore Jill Brotherton (23:14) placed fifth and freshman Brooke Iannone (23:18) was sixth. Seniors Jessica Fox (23:38) and Emilie Noreika (23:52) placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
“To have your top four finishers be freshmen and sophomores, that’s pretty good,” Lownds said.
On the boys side, Matt Luxeder took the top spot in 17:44, beating out Crosby’s Elijah Lewis (18:10) and Wolcott’s Nick Bendsten (18:15). Woodland also took the fourth and fifth spots with Kyle Crowell (18:22) and Wes Stein (18:53).
Freshman Marty Swercewski took seventh, while teammates Tom Bucciferro took ninth and Vinny Constanzo was 10th.
“We’re sitting in a good spot, but no one is handing us a trophy,” Lownds added. “We still have some good teams to face.”
On the boys’ side, teams like Holy Cross and Watertown remain on the schedule, while the girls will still have to contend with Watertown, Derby and Oxford.
“We still have a lot more work to do,” Lownds said.
Next up will be a meet on Oct. 3 with Ansonia, Watertown and host Oxford.
