The 2020 East Coast Cross Country Championships hosted by the Garden State Track Club will take place in Holmdel, New Jersey on Saturday.
The meet, which is not affiliated with the NFHS or CIAC, will officially close the season for Connecticut runners who are competing, most of whom ran at the Northeast Club Championships this past weekend.
Eight athletes are registered for the girls Gold Race at 11a.m. All were selected to the GameTimeCT All-State first team.
Chloe Scrimgeour (Conard), Mari Noble (Greenwich), Nora Holmes (Hall), Katherine Sanderson (Hall) and Grace Michaud (Southington) will compete as a team called The Nutmeg All-Stars.
“I am excited to be running as this team,” Scrimgeour said. “I have never really had a team to race with at a bigger meet so even though we’re not from the same school, it is going to be fun to represent the state.”
Scrimgeour, Holmes and Sanderson will be joining forces after a season in which their schools competed amongst themselves often, including the CCC-A Championships.
CCC-A Girls #CTXC Champions:
Individual Title:
Chloe Scrimgeor (Conard) 17:54Team Title: Simsbury pic.twitter.com/5k3s6pZCvE
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) November 12, 2020
“One thing we always joke about is if our two rival schools, Hall and Conard, ran together,” Gavin Sherry said. “Then combined we would have such an amazing team.”
In the Northeast XC Club Championships, Scrimgeour finished fourth overall and second in Connecticut. It was Scrimgeour’s first meet of that size, as the first-year cross country runner had participated in mostly dual meets this season.
“Going into Saturday, I just want to try to end the season on a strong note,” Scrimgeour said. “One thing I am definitely going to work on is my start. I am hoping to be able to get out with the leading pack to start the race so that I can maybe get a better time and be up there as long as I can.”
Her new teammate, Mari Noble finished ninth overall last weekend while Sanderson and Holmes placed 24th and 29th overall, both posting times under 19-minutes.
Kate Wiser (Pomperaug), the Northeast Club Championships winner, SWC runner up Ava Graham (Bethel), and SCC Champion Anna Steffen (Hand) will be running independently in the Gold Race.
“I am looking forward to another really competitive race,” Wiser said. “I am definitely hoping to have a good time and perform there to really round out my cross-country season with a solid run.”
Nine GameTimeCT All-State selections will run in the boys Gold Race at 1 p.m., featuring the 2020 Runner of the Year Gavin Sherry, who was the winner at last weekend’s championship.
“I think there will be some new competition, something to look forward to in this next race,” Sherry said. “It’s a new course, conditions could vary but that’s cross country. I hear it’s a pretty difficult course but I am hoping to do well. It’s the final race, it’s the buildup of the entire season. This race is it.”
Nicholas Bendtsen (Wolcott), Callum Sherry (Conard), Eamon Burke (Xavier), Charles Namiot (Ridgefield), Aidan Puffer (Manchester), Sean Barkasy (Manchester), Justin Cascio (Lewis Mills), and Jack Martin (Avon) are all registered for the Gold Race.
Bendtsen , the 2019 NVL champion who finished third overall, and was the second Connecticut finisher last weekend, believes he has more in the tank.
“You have to go into every race thinking you could win it,” Bendtsen said. “My goal is to run under 15:30 for that course, which is definitely a tough goal because that course is pretty difficult. I think it’s something I could achieve if I really put my mind to it and stay positive during the race.”
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