Cross country class meets on Saturday for local runners

Local runners will see what they can do against the rest of the state on Saturday at the CIAC cross country class championships at Manchester’s Wickham Park.
There is a local competitor in eight of the 12 races scheduled, and the day begins with the Class M girls at 9:15 a.m. Wolcott competes in that meet, led by dynamic sophomore Kathryn Rodrigues, who was second in the NVL’s varsity championship meet.
The Waterbury Career Academy and Wolcott boys compete in Class M at 9:50. Sophomore Harrison Foley leads the Spartans while freshman Nick Bendsten paces the Eagles. Bendsten had the best finish overall of any freshmen in the NVL varsity meet, taking 12th.
The WCA and Wilby girls take off in Class MM around 10:20. Senior Salma Gudaf is the top Spartan while junior Alana Daunis claims that spot for the Wildcats.
The Class MM boys meet goes off at 10:55 with no locals. That’s followed by the Class L girls at 11:25, which features Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern. Junior Alex Sirko led the Rams at the CCC title meet, and freshman Avery Braccia was tops for the Lancers.
The Class L boys, scheduled for noon, will have Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern, Crosby, Kennedy and Wilby. The Rams are led by sophomore Matt Petrosky, the Lancers by junior Ben Wadowski, the Bulldogs by junior Elijah Lewis, the Eagles by senior Kyle Hotchkiss, and the Wildcats by senior Bryan Oliveira.
There are no local runners in the Class LL girls or boys meets, which are slated for 1 p.m. and 1:35 p.m. Class S girls, which starts at 2:05, has Holy Cross, Sacred Heart and St. Paul. The Crusaders are led by junior Galvin Brayton, the Hearts by junior Jenna French, and the Falcons by sophomore Kailyn Bielecki.
The Class S boys get their start at 2:40, and Sacred Heart is the lone team in the meet. The Hearts are paced by senior Jonathan Warren.
There are no local girls in the Class SS race, which takes off at 3:10. At 3:45, the Class SS boys go in the final race of the day. Holy Cross and St. Paul will run in that meet. Sophomore Jack Paulin leads the Crusaders while sophomore Aidan Reilly does the same for the Falcons.