West Hartford’s Conard and Hall high schools competed in cross country on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.

By Fox Mace. Photos by Craig Rosenberg

As the cross country regular season comes to a close, most athletes find themselves down to their last races. Seven boys and seven girls from each team will run through early November in hopes of performing well in state and regional meets, but for the 300 JV athletes on the West Hartford teams, this crosstown rivalry marks the pinnacle of the season. 

On the boys side of the race held on Oct. 8, Hall looked to be the clear favorite. Hall was able to race a nearly complete varsity team after a month of overcoming injuries. The varsity group included the return of a healthy Ben Lewis to the lineup, which would improve the teams chances against Conard and for the championship season ahead. On the other side, Conard was missing their top runner due to illness, and would struggle with Grant Bigger unable to compete.

Donovan Connole, Thijs Doot, and Ben Lewis leading the race. Hall vs. Conard duel meet. Oct. 8, 2024. Photo credit: Craig Rosenberg

Donovan Connole took the race from the gun and held control from start to finish. Console clocked in at 15:39 for the 2.9-mile course – a second under his previous course record. Hanging onto Donovan, Thijs Doot in 15:44 and Ben Lewis in 15:55 rounded out the lead pack and finished their last regular season meet with the Hall cross country team.

The rest of Hall’s top seven came in the form of Jonah Schulman, Johnny Dewander, Fox Mace, and Hikari Mizuno. With times of 16:09, 16:09, 16:11, and 16:27, the team put in a solid performance but due to a lack of stiff competition were able to run at a fairly controlled effort.

Conard’s top athlete on Tuesday, William Oksanen, made an early bid to stay with the top group and over the 2.9 miles managed to hold on for a respectable ninth place finish in 16:53. Ursap Raut, Matthew Krol, Aiden Lawrence, and Julian Watson closed out Conard’s scoring runners. Both teams ran well, but Hall secured a decisive victory taking the first eight spots and winning the meet, 15-50.

Hall boys pack. Hall vs. Conard duel meet. Oct. 8, 2024. Photo credit: Craig Rosenberg

The girls race looked to be a much closer competition from the team standpoint. Conard’s Tess Sherry and Liv Sherry were expected to take control of the individual competition and lead the front of the race, but Hall’s depth leveled the playing field and made the competition more evenly matched.

The Hall girls team is returning Maddy Peterson from a season-long injury, and she will play a pivotal role in the team’s success this year. Peterson, along with Abby Sanderson, Lucy Vargas, Claire Furia, and Anya Mantripragada would look to follow the Sherry sisters lead and form a strong chase pack, showcasing Hall’s depth as a team. Behind the Sherrys, Conard’s Lucia Rittlinger, Taryn Jarvie, and Parker Dube would compete as the back of Conard’s scoring pack.

Tess Sherry and Liv Sherry winning the girls race. Hall vs. Conard duel meet. Oct. 8, 2024. Photo credit: Craig Rosenberg

Tess and Liv Sherry clinched the first two spots and both went under the course record in 17:43, putting up an impressive start for Conard.

Over the course of the race, however, the Hall pack would surge away from Conard’s third, fourth, and fifth athletes and would finish separated only by a 12-second spread. Coming in at 18:54 and 18:56, Hall seniors Sanderson and Peterson led the pack of Hall girls to the finish. Sophomores Vargas and Furia finished in 19:01 and 19:06, swinging the overall results in favor of Hall.

Conard’s Rittlinger was able to break up the Hall pack, finishing in a time of 19:31, with Hall’s Mantripragada following close behind in a time of 19:44. Jarvie and Dube finished Conard’s top five out in times of 19:46 and 22:15.

Hall girls chase pack. Hall vs. Conard duel meet. Oct. 8, 2024. Photo credit: Craig Rosenberg

Hall’s depth outperformed Conard’s top individual athletes’ performances, ultimately securing a victory for Hall in a score of 26-31. 

The key factor that led to Hall’s victory in both races was the spread, with Hall boys scorers finishing within 30 seconds of each other and the girls within 50 seconds.  This will serve both teams well as they start competing in championship style races over the next few weeks.

Along with strong team running, Hall will be improved by the return of Peterson for the girls and Lewis for the boys heading into the conference championship meet.

Conard looks forward to the return of Bigger and will look to qualify for the State Open at the end of the season.

The West Hartford teams will only improve as the season continues looking to reach the New England championship race come early November.

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