41°
Several members of Danbury High School's boys and girls cross country teams donned the Flyers uniform to compete alongside the middle school members of the Flyers at the prestigious meet. Competitors ran courses varying in length from 2000m to 5000 meters at White Memorial Foundation.
Representing the Flyers in the Boys 8 and Under division, was Jack Murray, who completed the 2000 meter course in 11:03.3 and qualified for the Junior Olympic Cross Country Regional Meet.
The top Flyer girl in the Girls 9-10 division was Corrine Whelchel; she placed 18th of 27 finishers with a time of 16:19.1 on the 3000 meter course and qualified for the Regional Meet. Also qualifying for the Regional Meet in this division were Kayla Murray, Daniella Spratt, Victoria Battista, and Shayla Cordero. Dylan Cooke was the top Flyer boy of the 27 finishers in the Boys 9-10 division; Cooke earned a medal for completing in eighth place on the 3000m course with a time of 14:10.7. Cooke qualified for the Regional Meet along with Flyer teammates Guhan Vel, Sam Fischer, Max Coisman, and Elias Alvarado.
The 11-12 age groups had two of the three largest fields: 41 and 57 finishers for the girls and boys, respectively. The Flyer girls had two medal winners in this division: Madelaine Sweeney (9th) and Gabriella Teixeira (10th). Sweeney completed the 3000m course in 12:18.1, less than two seconds ahead of Teixeira, whose final time was 12:20.3. Both girls qualified for the Regional Meet along with the following Flyer girl teammates: Vivian Mendez, Sophia Guevara, Sofia Whelchel, Marianna Teixeira, Maya Gawley, Zoe Bowman, Emily You, and Lily Mills. The top Flyer boy in the Boys 11-12 division was Scott Gersten, who placed 39th; Gersten's time on the 3000m course was 12:52.3. Also representing the Flyers in this division were Alexander Gibson, Steven Confesor-Chable, and Camilo Cordova.
There were 27 girls and 61 boys who finished the 4000m course in the 13-14 division. The top Flyer girl was Valerie Fox, who placed 21st with a time of 18:58.7, followed by Alyssa Scappaticci, who finished the course in 19:27.4 and in 24th place. Each of the girls qualified for the Regional Meet. Ryan Caldwell was the top Flyer boy in this age category; Caldwell earned a medal and qualified for the Regional Meet by placing sixth with a time of 15:02.5. Also representing the Flyers in this division were Christopher Adamski, Brennan Amalfitano, Adam Fox, Rock Lamour, and Nico Cuevas.
The competitors in the 15-16 and 17-18 age groups ran a 5000 course. Representing the Flyer girls were Sarah Schechter (21:57.0), Abigail Hanlon (23:42.4), and Iman Farah (27:54.3). The girls took 3rd, 4th, and 5th places, respectively, and each qualified for the Regional Meet; five females in this division finished the race. The first Flyer boy in this age category to cross the finish line was Pedro Pereira, who took third place with a time of 17:06.9. Fourth place was also won by a Flyer: Spencer Mead, who finished the 5k race in 17:09.1. Two other Flyer boys earned a medal in this field of 30 finishers: Daniel Raya, 7th (17:19.8) and Christian Moraes, 10th (17:30.1). Each of the four medalists qualified for the Regional Meet, as did the following: Hack Depew, Peterson Souza, Eric Collado, Roque Navarro, Guilherme Naronha, Bradley Fox, Roberto Barletti, and Harsh Bhavsar.
Christopher Margres was the only Flyer boy to compete in the 17-18 Boys division; of ten to finish the 5000m course, Margres completed the course with a time of 16:55.0, which was fast enough to earn him a 5th place medal and to qualify for the Regional Meet.
The individuals and teams who qualified in various District Meets for the next round of the competition will compete on Nov. 22 in Rhode Island at the Junior Olympic Cross Country Regional Meet.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Danbury and receive free news updates.
