West Hartford Teams are Class LL Cross Country Champions
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Conard boys cross country head coach Ron Knapp (left) and Hall girls head cross country coach Betty Remigino-Knapp hold their respective Class LL cross country championship plaques. Courtesy photo
The Hall High School girls and the Conard High School boys are Class LL cross country champions for 2019, and Conard’s Gavin Sherry is the top boys runner.
By Ronni Newton
West Hartford teams earned a pair of Class LL cross country championship first place honors Saturday at Wickham Park in Manchester, with the Conard boys and the Hall girls taking the top spots.
Bragging rights can be shared among a pair of West Hartford coaches as well – married couple Betty Remigino-Knapp (Hall girls head coach) and Ron Knapp (Conard boys head coach) each bringing home a championship plaque.
As a team, the Conard boys scored 63 points to beat runner-up Staples which scored 102.
Boys XC….2019 CLASS LL STATE CHAMPIONS!!!! pic.twitter.com/EMmJREUldg
— Conard Athletics (@CHSWHAthletics) October 26, 2019
Conard sophomore Gavin Sherry also won his first Class LL title, leading the pack up the hill at Wickham for a 15:24 finish, 9 seconds ahead of Manchester sophomore Aidan Puffer.
Also scoring for Conard were Sherry’s twin brother, Callum, who finished fourth, Tyler Remigino (10th), Vebjoern Roeed (16th), and Sophonias Dires (32nd).
The strength of Hall’s team as a whole propelled the Warriors into first place, with the top five runners combining for 77 points to top runner-up Trumbull’s 97 points.
Congrats to Girls Cross Country – CIAC Class LL Champions! pic.twitter.com/QbBSaT2wrx
— Hall Athletics (@HallWHAthletics) October 26, 2019
Hall’s first runner Saturday was sophomore Katherine Sanderson, whose 19:32 finish earned her seventh place. Also scoring for Hall were Norah Holmes (ninth), Rose Kitz (15th), Mia Healer (22nd), and Natalie Schaumberger (24th). Senior Jenna Zydanowicz, typically Hall’s No. 1 runner and a second-place finisher at the CCC championships Oct. 16, had a tough outing Saturday and finished 26th.
The Hall boys were the Class LL runner-up in 2018 but graduated a class of record-breaking athletes. They finished seventh in Class LL Saturday led by Jackson Grady, a senior, with a sixth place finish in 16:20.
The Conard girls, led by freshman Marlena Pegelo (22:57), finished 14th in Class L on Saturday.
Runners will return to Wickham Nov. 1 for the State Open.
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Kudos to the Conard & Hall Champion Cross-Country runners and Coaches Ron Knapp & Betty Remigino Knapp.
This is no accident because the runners and coaches are skilled.
I lettered in Cross Country at Conard before basketball season.
Keep on Keeping on!
Jim Johnson,Esq.
[…] raced to the State Open individual championship this past season with a time of 15:38. Sherry also won the Class LL title, leading the Chieftains to the Class LL crown as a team. After breaking the tape at the New England Championships, he took second at the Foot Locker […]