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Celebrating Top 25 Cross Country Male Athletes Since 2000 - Part 2Published by
By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp In honor of MySportsResults 25 years of covering Connecticut high school track & field and cross country, we continue our look back at 25 of the best male athletes over the past quarter of a century for the cross country season. If you think we are missing some of your favorite athletes then welcome to our dilemma since trying to put 25 athletes from the last 25 years was nearly an unbelievable task. We hope you enjoy the next part of our overdue series as we continue with the males who made an impact on our sport since the fall of 2000. Additional segments will feature the remaining group of female athletes who have influenced the state’s cross country scene since 2000. Austin Gilbert, Ridgefield, Class of 2015 Gilbert kept getting better as the season went along his senior year. He was 2nd in Class LL, 5th in Open and 3rd at New England behind Ostberg and Klau. At the Open he ran 15:46 which is still tied for the 25th fastest individual on the course. He was the surprise winner at the Nike Northeast Regional meet and finished 34th at NXN. The Tiger was 7th at the Open his junior year and grabbed the last medal at New Englands to play 25th.
Alex Ostberg, Darien, Class of 2015 No one has ever had a better season than Alex Ostberg did in the fall of 2014. He was Class L champion as a junior, 3rd at the Open and 2nd at New Englands, but he reached an entire other level as a senior. He won the Manhattan Invitational in 11:57.2 which was the 2nd fastest time on the historic course that has remained the same for nearly a century. He went on to win the Class L title again and won the State Open in 14:58, becoming the only boy to ever break 15 minutes on Wickham’s 5k course. He continued his season winning New Englands and the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championship in 2014. At Nationals he earned All American by finishing in 9th place. He was named the 2013 and 2014 Gatorade Athlete of the Year.
Ari Klau, William Hall, Class of 2015 Some years are deeper than others. Klau finished 2nd at the Open his senior year behind Alex Ostberg’s course record run. His time of 15:34 is the 13th fastest individual on the course and he would have won a championship 12 of the 17 years since the course was reconfigured in 2006. He was Class LL Champion, 2nd at New Englands, 3rd at Foot Locker NE Regional and 22nd at Foot Locker Nationals. His junior year he was Class L runner-up and 10th at the Open and improved to 6th at New Englands
Eric van der Els, Brien McMahon, Class of 2016 There are two senators from Connecticut, but there is only one Senator who made this list. Eric van der Els certainly put Brien McMahon in the spotlight for three years. As a sophomore he was 10th in Class LL, but surprised many by finishing 6th at the Open, He earned another top ten finish at the Open his junior year and earned All New England for the first time. But his senior year was one for the ages as he swept the FCIAC, Class LL and Open, finishing in front of Ridgefield’s Gabe Altopp each time. The Tiger finally got him at New Englands and van der Els took 3rd. He is still among the top 30 fastest individuals to ever run the Wickham course with his PR of 15:47. At Foot Lockers he finished 18th and won the CT Gatorade Athlete of the Year in 2015. Besides breaking 4 minutes for the mile in college and winning the Pan American U-20 1500m championship his freshman year at UConn, he recently finished 10th at the Olympic Trials in the 5000m this past July.
Gabe Altopp, Ridgefield, Class of 2016 After finishing 2nd in Eric van der Els at FCIACs, Class LL and the State Open, Altopp finally got past his rival by a step to take the runner-up spot at New Englands. The pair went head to head at Foot Lockers Northeast where Altopp finished in 9th place, four places behind the Brien McMahon senior. At Nationals, the Ridgefield senior was only a place behind once again and he finished 19th. His junior year was almost as strong with a 9th place finish at the Open and he set his Wickham PR of 15:49.4 the following week at New Englands, which makes him the 33rd fastest on the course.
Andrew Thompson, Fairfield Prep, Class of 2018 After completing an undefeated regular season his senior year, Thompson would go on to sweep the postseason as well, finishing first at the SCC, Class LL, State Open and New England Championship meets. At the Northeast Championships, Thompson finished 7th and qualified for the Footlocker National Championship in San Diego. Thompson would later finish 8th in the Footlocker Championship, earning him All-American honors. Thompson joins Prep alumnus Conor Rog as just the second runner in Prep history to receive the Gatorade Athlete of the Year and he is the fourth Jesuit to make this list. His junior year he was 2nd at Class LL and the Open and finished 35th at Foot Lockers after a 7th place finish at the Northeast Regional meet.
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Robbie Cozean, Xavier, Class of 2020 The son of another great Xavier runner, Ron Cozean, Robbie finished 5th at the State Open as a freshman and broke the freshman course record with his 3rd place finish at Class LL in 16:07. Injuries relegated him to 20th at the Open as a sophomore, but he bounced back to finish 3rd as a junior. After winning New Balance Nationals in outdoor track in the 5000m, he came into his senior year as a favorite. After winning the Class L title in 15:30, becoming the 3rd fastest runner on the Wickham course at the time, he faced a battle with the 2nd fastest runner on the course at the time, sophomore Gavin Sherry of Conard. The pair battled it out and when Cozean attacked the Green Monster, Sherry surged as well and got to the top with a slight lead. Coming out of the woods Sherry maintained the lead, but Cozean pulled even with 200m to go in what became one of the most thrilling finishes ever in a State Open. The sophomore found one last gear and pulled away from his elder and Cozean barely managed to stay upright over the last 50 meters of the race, giving every ounce of effort of the course. While the Xavier runner never won an Open title, he is still the 6th fastest individual on the course and he was 2nd at the New Englands to Sherry the following week at Wickham Park.
Gavin Sherry, Conard, Class of 2022 The Wickham Park spectators and fans of XC were introduced to Gavin Sherry in 2015 after finishing his first tour of the course as a 6th grader at Sedgwick MS in the CT Middle School State Championships. Although he finished in the top 30 behind his twin brother Callum, the path was set as he took home the top award the following two years with a meet record time of 11:57.22 over the 2.3mi course or a pace of 5:12 as an 8th grader. In his freshman year at Conard, Sherry served notice to the state upperclassmen that he was a competitor to be reckoned with after winning the Manchester Invite (NH) and finishing the season no worse than second including the New Englands that returned to the Derryfield (NH) course. During the next 3 years, Sherry remained undefeated in the state and New England where he displayed his run-from-the-front style that dared competitors to match his pace. After setting the freshman Wickham course record of 15:59, Sherry continued with 4 more sub-15:45 finishes on the course with a best of 15:24 at the Class LL that remains a sophomore course record. His 2019 season culminated in a 14th place finish at the Foot Locker Nationals in 15:36. Although the COVID pandemic altered his junior season, his 2020 performances at a 5k track NJ race in 14:43 and a win in 15:13 over a challenging 5k in NY proved his fitness was improving. In his senior 2021 season, Sherry remained undefeated including a win at the Ocean State Invite in a meet record of 14:58.6, a CIAC Open victory in 15:16 (3rd fasted all-time), another course record of 15:05.8 at the NE Foot Locker race and finishing 3rd at the Foot Locker Nationals in 15:17. He was honored as the Gatorade Athlete of the Year for each of his three seasons.
Aidan Puffer, Manchester, Class of 2022 When Gavin Sherry’s career is talked about, it isn’t just the championships he won, but the competitors he raced against that made this era so exciting. By any measure, Aidan Puffer is one of the greatest distance runners to ever come through Connecticut. Before he even arrived in high school he set the national age group records for 5k on the roads and broke another 5k on the track his freshman year. His first season of high school racing, he placed 26th at the State Open, just missing New Englands, but the following year as a sophomore, he placed 7th at Foot Locker Northeast Regionals to earn a spot in nationals where he finished 21st. His junior cross country season was lost to Covid, but he returned for his senior year to win Class LL, took 3rd at the Open in 15:25, the 5th fastest performer at Wickham, and 2nd at New Englands. He earned his second trip to Foot Locker Nationals by placing 6th at Regional and earned All American with a 13th place finish in San Diego.
Callum Sherry, Conard, Class of 2022 After ending his middle school competition placing behind brother Gavin and Aidan Puffer, Callum Sherry achieved notoriety as a Conard freshman as only one of four freshmen to finish in the top 50 places at the 2018 State Open. Sherry continued his rise among the state’s best as he helped Conard win the 2019 LL title with his 4th place in 16:13. It was during the Covid lockdown ‘lost season’ of 2020 where he stepped up another notch in learning how to compete in the front pack in several out-of-state meets. His senior year provided the most excitement as he finished third or better in every race including a CCC title, a bronze medal at the New Englands and a silver medal in the State Open in 15:22 that is the 5th fastest individual time on the Wickham course. The 1-2 finish by Gavin and Callum is the only time in CIAC Open Championship history that siblings have achieved that feat.
Michael Bohlke, Newington, Class of 2022 The Class of 2022 entered high school in the fall of 2018 and immediately showed their potential with three athletes in the top 30 at the State Open as freshmen. Bohlke finished in the 30th spot behind Gavin Sherry and Aidan Puffer and the next year he was 3rd in Class L and 23rd at the State Open as a sophomore. In 11th grade, he only competed in dual meets due to the Covid lock downs but this allowed the Nor’Easter to get in a solid block of training and make some significant gains in fitness. The State Open in the fall of 2021 saw four of the top nine times run at Wickham Park to mark the single most competitive season in the history or cross country in the Nutmeg State. He finished 4th at Class L, 4th at the Open and 5th in New England with his best Wickham time of 15:25 making him the 5th fastest individual on the course. At Northeast East Bay Regionals (formerly Foot Locker) he just barely squeezed into nationals with a 10th place finish and he came away with a very respectable 24th place finish in San Diego.
Steven Hergenrother, Ridgefield, Class of 2024 Hergenrother first attended the State Open to watch the first of his three sisters run when barely old enough to run and has witnessed some of the greatest athletes to ever travel the trails at Wickham Park. Stories of these great athletes motivated him to one day join them on the victory stand. Sophomore year he led a senior dominated team to the State Open with a 10th place finish and followed that up with a 15th place finish to earn All England. His next two years he went undefeated against Connecticut competition, took 2nd at New England as a junior and won that title as a senior. At the national level, an illness caused him to just miss out on Foot Locker Nationals when he finished 11th at regionals. After leading his team to an Open and New England title his senior year he helped his team to a 3rd place finish at NXR, which was just one spot off of qualifying as a team. But Hergenrother’s 3rd place finish in the race earned him a spot as an individual where he placed 29th at NXN in Oregon. His best Wickham of 15:32 makes him the 10th fastest runner on the course. For all of these many honors, Hergenrother was twice named.Gatorade Athlete of the Year in 2022 and 2023
Honorable Mention The rich history of athletes over the past 25 years made selection of 25 performers an almost impossible task. Since CT cross country fans can discuss why some names were not selected, our list below also recognizes several more athletes for their outstanding careers over the past quarter of a century.
Special Honorable Mention We have a special circumstance for an athlete who attended prep school in Connecticut but was among the best in the nation but did not compete for CIAC schools and never competed against other in-state athletes except at Nationals. Matthew Farrell, Loomis Chaffee, Windsor - 2020 - As a Glastonbury native, Farrell attended Loomis Chaffe in Windsor where he was the Founders League Champion in his junior and senior seasons. In both seasons he finished in the top 8 places at the Northeast Foot Locker Regional meet with a best time of 15:30 on the historic Van Cortland course in New York to twice earn a trip to the nationals. After his 23rd place finish at Foot Locker Nationals in 2018, Farrell moved up to 13th in his senior year with a 15:29 on the 5k course in Balboa Park in San Diego. He was the CT two-time Gatorade Athlete of the Year.
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