Barlow’s Dugan regains old form to take 2nd at Bethel Invitational

By Ed Flink THE NEWS-TIMES - 09/22/2002

BETHEL — Returning to the scene of her injury, Joel Barlow High senior Courtney Dugan couldn’t help but have a momentary flashback.

"Jogging the course (before the race) I did. I got butterflies in my stomach,” Dugan recalled Saturday after finishing second at the Bethel Invitational to Griswold’s Abbey Sadowski.

Sadowski, who placed second in Class M and fifth at the State Open last year, prevailed with a time of 16 minutes, 3 seconds on the 2.5-mile layout. Dugan was clocked in 16:22.

"I didn’t think I would do that well at all going into the race, actually,” Dugan said.

It was here last year that Dugan, still a cross country novice, took a wrong turn during the race. When she tried to stop suddenly and change direction, her knee buckled. As a result, she couldn’t complete the race.

Although Dugan rejoined the Falcons’ lineup following a short layoff, her promising early form never truly returned. She wound up eighth in the South-West Conference, 13th in Class M and 83rd at the Open.

"I was physically training but I wasn’t mentally training. I was really disappointed but I learned and grew from that,” she said.

The reigning SWC champion Falcons need Dugan to be both the leader and the pacesetter now that former All-Staters Ashley St. Pierre and Shannon Kenefick have graduated. She relishes the role of helping her inexperienced teammates..

"I definitely miss Ashley and Shannon but it’s fun,” Dugan said. "There isn’t a lot of experience in actual running but they’re learning and we’re working really hard to rebuild what we had.”

Dugan isn’t putting any pressure on herself, but she can be among the state’s best this fall if she remains healthy. She proved that again Saturday by beating several proven runners including 2001 Class L runner-up Ashley Ryan of New Milford and All-Staters Nicole Breves and Rebecca Chain of Ridgefield.

"I just want to keep doing well. I don’t really have a set goal, like to be first at the state meet or anything, but I’d like to keep placing (high),” she said.

The girls team title went to E.O. Smith-Storrs with 81 points. Griswold was next with 99. Ridgefield took third (134) and Barlow was fourth (159), followed by New Milford (168) and Bethel (172).

Left in Dugan’s wake were Ridgefield’s Caitlin Helgesen (6th, 16:48); New Fairfield’s Christina Andruk (7th, 16:49), Ryan (8th, 16:50) and Chain (9th, 16:54.)

Non-area teams and individuals dominated the boys race. Griwsold’s Gavin Coombs edged Tim Mandreadis of Cheshire at the tape. Both were clocked in 15:50.

The team title went to Griswold, a Class SS school that finished second at last year’s State Open to Danbury, a Class LL powerhouse. Griswold, with 46 points, outlasted Staples (71) and Cheshire (74). Among the local teams, New Milford was fourth (93), Joel Barlow sixth (160), Ridgefield seventh (168) and Pomperaug eighth (209).

The area’s highest finisher was Barlow’s Ian Foley, who claimed seventh in 16:20. He was three seconds faster than New Milford’s Peter Matthiessen, the champion in last week’s Wilton Invitational large schools race.

NOTES: With Wilton on this week’s FCIAC schedule, Danbury did not participate in the boys or girls race.

BOYS

Team scores

1, Griswold 46 points. 2, Staples 71. 3, Cheshire 74. 4, New Milford 93. 5, Woodstock Academy 149. 6, Joel Barlow 160. 7, Ridgefield 168. 8, Pomperaug 209. 9, E.O. Smith 262. 10, Edison, N.J., 263. 11, Fairfield Prep 294. 12, Newtown 300. 13, Xavier 342. 14, New Fairfield 351. 15, Jonathan Law 362. 16, Bunnell 380. 17, Brookfield 412. 18, Bethel 432. 19, Notre Dame-Fairfield 435. 20, Weston 436. 21, Foran 448. 22, St. Joseph 460. 23, Stratford 523.

Top 25 Individuals

1, Gavin Coombs (Gris) 15:50 (course record). 2, Tim Mandreadis (Ches) 15:50. 3, Mike Kennedy (Staples) 16:00. 4, Reynolds Chapman (Gris) 16:04. 5, Tyler Lonsdale (Stap) 16:10. 6, Vitaly Theriault (EOS) 16:18. 7, Ian Foley (JB) 16:20. 8, Pete Matthiessen (NM) 16:23. 9, Tradella Ward (Gris) 16:25. 10, Charlie Melvin (Ches) 16:29. 11, Reid McEwan (NM) 16:32. 12, Kevin Graham (Wood) 16:38. 13, Chris Lynch (Ches) 16:40. 14, John Critelli (Pomp) 16:48. 15, Chris Croff (Gris) 16:49. 16, Max Feldman (JB) 16:51. 17, John Braden (Gris) 16:53. 18, Nick DeCrescenzo (NM) 16:54. 19, Brad Hiller (Ridge) 16:55. 20, Grant Burgess (Stap) 16:57. 21, Devin Hanrahan (Stap) 16:59. 22, Robert Brink (Stap) 17:01. 23, Andrew Salesinsky (Wood) 17:06. 24, All Rousseau (Ches) 17:08. 24, Pat Long (Ches) 17:08.

NOTE: 3.1 miles, at Bethel High

GIRLS

Team scores

1, E.O. Smith 81. 2, Griswold 99. 3, Ridgefield 134. 4, Joel Barlow 159. 5, New Milford 168. 6, Bethel 172. 7, Cheshire 191. 8, Newtown 198. 9, Edison, N.J. 206. 10, Staples 209. 11, Pomperaug 249. 12, St. Joseph 252. 13, Brookfield 266. 14, Lauralton Hall 267. 15, New Fairfield 345. 16, Foran 361. 17, Notre Dame-Fairfield 370. 18, Bunnell 415. 19, Weston 418.

Top 25 Individuals

1, Abby Sadowski (Gris) 16:03. 2, Courtney Dugan (JB) 16:22. 3, Kristin Jackson (SJ) 16:28 4, Colleen Lynch (LH) 16:38. 5, Rebecca Vinsonholer (EOS) 16:47. 6, Caitlin Helgesen (Ridge) 16:48. 7, Christina Andruk (NF) 16:49. 8, Ashley Ryan (NM) 16:50. 9, Rebecca Chain (Ridge) 16:54. 10, Lauren Moran (EOS) 16:55. 11, Kelly Woll (Ches) 16:56. 12, Viktoria Brautigam (Beth) 16:58. 13, Sarah Levy (Gris) 17:00. 14, Nicole Breves (Ridge) 17:01. 15, Mary O’Connor (Edison) 17:02. 16, Julie Gliesing (JB) 17:05. 17, Caroline Brennan (Newt) 17:06. 18, Kristin Weller (NM) 17:13. 19, Briana Coolbeth (EOS) 17:16. 20, Kora Shin (EOS) 17:16. 21, Ashley Hotty (Gris) 17:17. 22, Amanda Fisher (Gris) 17:20. Oghogho Aifuwa (Edison) 17:24. 24, Sarah Thomas (Brook) 17:25. 25, Dana Lehner (Beth) 17:44.

NOTE: 2.5 miles, at Bethel High

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