Girls one step behind league leader
SEYMOUR — The flurry of Garnet and Grey crossing the finish line has simply overwhelmed opponents as the Naugatuck boys cross country team continues its race for an undefeated season.
On Oct. 1 at Seymour, the Greyhounds swept Woodland and Seymour to improve to 8-0 in the Naugatuck Valley League. The ‘Hounds knocked off Woodland by a 16-39 count and disposed of the Wildcats by a 15-46 margin.
Dan Schumacher won for the third time in three NVL meets, posting a winning time of 16 minutes, 5 seconds — just 36 seconds off the course record. Brody Hale took second in 16:51, while Graden Beasley was third in 17:20, Taylor Hayward was fourth in 17:29 and Mark Zamani placed sixth in 18:32.
“It was a good day for Naugatuck cross country,” Naugatuck head coach Bill Hanley said. “Dan Schumacher was just off the course record set by Chris Bendtsen in 2009. The boys team continues to work hard and they’re improving every week.”
Naugy’s Mike Huzior (18th, 20:07) and Brandon Thomas (19th, 20:19) finished about a minute away from the top 10. Mike Zamani (22nd, 20:25), James Dorosh (24th, 20:42), Brian Reilly (25th, 20:53) and Scott Kostka (26th, 20:57) joined 26 of the 55 runners to break the 21-minute mark.
The Naugatuck girls were derailed by Woodland as the Hawks pulled out a 20-39 win over the Greyhounds. Seymour wasn’t as lucky as Naugatuck improved to 7-1 on the season with a 22-39 win over the Wildcats.
Madison Beasley kept her winning streak alive, improving to 3-0 on the season with a first-place finish in 20:09. Courtney Morin placed eighth for the ‘Hounds with a time of 22:39.
“Madison had an incredible race, taking 50 seconds off her time,” Hanley said. “Ten of our girls ran season-best times as they continue to improve every week. We still have a lot of work to do and we will face a big challenge next week when we face Watertown and Wolcott.”
Lauren Stankiewicz finished 11th in 23:54, Heyi Cheng was 12th in 24:03, Jill Orts placed 14th in 25:05, Caitlyn Colella crossed 15th in 25:12 and Mercedes DeSousa was 16th in 25:17, giving the Greyhounds seven runners in the top 20.
At the start of the season, Hanley was hoping for a fifth runner to emerge on the boys team to present a solid lineup. That came quickly in the first invitational of the season at Windham when Graden Beasley won the freshman race. He has since been a mainstay in the top five all season. Schumacher won the varsity race at Windham and the ‘Hounds have been off and running.
Naugy started the season off on the right foot when it swept Holy Cross, Torrington and Crosby with Schumacher leading the way. He set the Crusaders’ course record in the process, posting a time of 16:42. Hale was third in 17:32, Beasley was fifth in 17:58 and Hayward was seventh in 18:16.
The girls began 3-0 with a sweep of Holy Cross, Torrington and Crosby with Madison Beasley setting the pace, winning by over a minute and a half with a sterling time of 22:02. Morin was second in 23:32, and Stankiewicz (sixth), Cheng (seventh), Liz Trumbley (eighth) and DeSousa (10th) finished inside the top 10.
Last week both squads improved to 6-0 with sweeps of Kennedy, Wilby and Sacred Heart. Schumacher was first for the boys, putting up a winning time of 16:50. Graden Beasley finished third in 17:53 with Hale taking fourth in 18:10 and Hayward finishing eighth in 18:50.
Madison Beasley raced to victory in a time of 21:47 with Morin finishing fourth in 23:40, Stankiewicz seventh in 25:01 and Trumbley ninth in 25:04.
