Folders |
Celebrating Top 25 Cross Country Female Athletes Since 2000 - Part 2Published by
By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing, Photos and Graphics by Ron Knapp In honor of MySportsResults 25 years of covering Connecticut high school track & field and cross country, we conclude our look back at 25 of the best female 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 select 25 athletes from the last 25 years was nearly an unbelievable task. We hope you enjoy the final part of our overdue series as we finish with the females who have influenced the state’s cross country scene since 2000. Make sure to view all of the top 25 athletes from each T&F season and XC in Celebrating 25-Years! If you enjoyed the content like this one provided by MySportsResults then you can help keep our content free by shopping for your 25th MSR Anniversary gear at our sponsor Marathon Sports who helped make articles like these possible.
Claire Howlett, Westhill, Class of 2014 The best athletes often have rivals to push them to their potential. Howlett had a great senior year but finished 2nd in all of her championship races to Hannah DeBalsi, two years her junior. She ran 18:03 in the Class LL championship which makes her the 6th faster runner at Wickham and she ran 17:39 at the equally tough Derryfield Park in New Hampshire for New Englands. Her junior year she was 9th at the State Open
Gabrielle Richichi, New Fairfield, Class of 2015 Off the course, Richichi was a sweet and polite person but when the gun went off there was an intensity about her that showed through and led her to three Class MM titles and three All New England finishes. In her 3 years qualifying for the Open she finished 10th, 3rd and 14th as a senior. The last race motivated her to refocus and earn a runner-up finish at New Englands and a 9th place finish at Foot Locker Northeast Regional Championships where she qualified for Nationals in San Diego. Interestingly, her middle school coach, Jim Keller was one of the people who helped design the course at Balboa Park. At Nationals, she earned All American honors with a 14th place finish.
Hannah DeBalsi, Staples, Class of 2016 There was talk about DeBalsi being the greatest high school female distance runner to ever come through Connecticut. Her resume certainly makes a claim for that title, but there can be no doubt she deserves to be on the Mount Rushmore of greatest CT distance runners. She was a three time Class LL champion and was 2nd her freshman year and also won three State Open titles by extremely large margins and was 16th as a senior. Even at the New England level she won as a sophomore, junior and senior and was 11th in her first season as a high school runner. She also represented CT three times at Foot Locker National finishing as the runner-up as a sophomore, 5th as a junior and 12th as a senior. Her best of 17:41 was the Wickham course record for six years and went under 18 minutes six times. The Wrecker was also honored as the Gatorade Gatorade Athlete of the Year for three straight years in cross country.
Katherine Deloreto, Tolland, Class of 2017 The next two entries were integral parts of one of the most dominant teams over a four year period that still holds the CT record for fastest team time at Wickham Park. Tolland won four straight Class M titles and won three Open titles with one runner-up finish. In 2014 the Eagles went 1-5 to score 15 points at the Class Meet, the same year they ran a combined 1:36:30 to win the Open. Deloreto was the sometimes pacesetter on those teams and was a two time Class M champion. At the Open, over a four year period, she finished 20th as a freshman, 9th, 2nd and finally third as a senior. She was also a three time All New England runner taking 20th, 3rd and 7th place her last three years of high school.
Hayley Collins, Tolland, Class of 2017 Almost always finishing either in front or behind Deloreto by a few seconds, Collins had her share of individual honors. She went from 7th in Class M as a freshman to claiming the title as a sophomore and finishing 3rd and 2nd the next two years. At the State Open she improved from 5th as a sophomore to 4th and 2nd the next two years and earned All New England honors twice. Tolland was the top CT team at New Englands all four years the pair was in high school, finishing 4th, 3rd, 3rd and 6th, bringing home two New England trophies to their school.
Morgan McCormack, Wilton, Class of 2018 When you finish 56th at the State Open the year before, you aren’t on anyone’s radar to contend for the title the next year. But that is exactly what happened to McCormack. She leap frogged over 32 returning girls who finished in front of her to win as a junior. Then as a senior she had had the weight of defending her title and went along to win all of her races up to and including the Open for the second time.Her winning time at Class L of 18:19 is still the 10th fastest time at Wickham. McCormack finished 4th at New Englands and 4th at Foot Locker Northeast Regionals to qualify for the national meet in San Diego. Once there she finished a very respectable 17th place.
Kate Wiser, Pomperaug, Class of 2019 A quiet intensity was on display whenever Wiser raced. She came up through the highly successful Rochambeau Middle School program and found immediate success earning a runner-up finish at Class L and the State Open, plus a 5th place finish at New Englands. She also finished in 11th, at Foot Locker Northeast Regionals, one spot away from Nationals. Her sophomore year witnessed her finish undefeated until Foot Locker Regionals, winning the Class L, State Open and New England titles. At Nationals, she earned All American status with a 7th place finish. At Class L during her junior year, she set the still standing Wickham Park record with her time of 17:39. But that performance took something out of her as she finished 2nd at the State Open 43 seconds slower and 3rd at New Englands. While states weren’t held her senior year due to the Covid pandemic, she still won the East Coast Cross Country Championships at historic Holmdel Park, NJ and the 12th Rock Northeast HS Club XC Championships, both against several nationally ranked runners.
Mari Noble, Greenwich, Class of 2020 After attending Greenwich Country Day School as a freshman, Noble made an immediate impact on the Cardinals’ cross country team by winning her first cross country meet. She went on to win the Class LL meet, took 3rd at the Open and 4th at New Englands. Her junior year she defended her Class LL title and moved up into the winner’s circle at the Open and took 2nd at New Englands. Her winning time from the Open of 17:57 makes her the 4th fastest girl to ever run Wickham’s 5000m course. Covid denied her a chance to defend her titles in her senior year.
Rachel St. Germain, Somers, Class of 2022 The quiet and modest runner became an overnight superstar when she crossed the line first at the State Open in 2021. Her Instagram followers quickly shot up and she was surprised about her new found notoriety. While many other girls on this list found immediate success earning All State as freshman or sophomores, St. Germain ran 23:25 at Wickham her freshman year to finish 23rd in Class S. There was steady progress to 5th in Class S her sophomore year with a 38th place finish at the Open. She missed competing at the cross country state championships her junior year due to the Covid epidemic but by the spring of her senior year she showed improvement in track, scoring in the State Open 1600m and 3200m plus winning the CIAC steeplechase. But nothing would predict the type of fall she would have her senior year. She went undefeated in all of her invitationals, plus the Class meet and the Open, running a time of 18:02, still the 5th fastest individual on the course. At New Englands in her senior year St. Germain finished 2nd in the five state race. She obviously was named the Gatorade Athlete of the year in 2021.
Sydney Kelleher, New Milford, Class of 2023 New Milford is one of only five Connecticut teams that have won a New England championship and Sydney Kelleher led them to the title in 2021 and another podium finish in 2022. She was a two time SWC and Class L champion and finished 3rd at the Open her junior year and 11th as a senior. She was also All New England her last two years of high school and her best Wickham time of 18:49.0 was inside the top 100 at the beginning of the season.
Kate Bohlke, Newington, Class of 2024 In her senior year Bohlke broke the tape at the State Open Meet in 18:16.0 that completed a sweep of the in-state postseason races before finishing 5th at New Englands. Bohlke raised her game at the next level, clocking a 17:50.0 to take sixth at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional. She followed that with a top 25 finish at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, narrowly missing All-American honors. She showed steady progress throughout her years in high school finishing 18th at the State Open as a sophomore and 4th as a junior. Her Wickham PR from the State Open made her the 8th fastest girl to ever run on the course and she was named Gatorade Athlete of the Year.
Brooke Strauss, Glastonbury, Class of 2025 The only runner on this list with another year of eligibility has already already created credentials to earn this honor. As a freshman she was 2nd at the State Open and after an injury plagued sophomore was a surprise winner at the Open. Last year she finished 2nd at the Open behind All American Kate Bohlke. She finished 2nd at Class LL as a freshman, 7th as a sophomore and 2nd once again as a junior. Strauss has been a two time All New England runner taking 7th as a freshman and 3rd last year. She just missed Foot Locker Nationals last year with a 13th place finish at the Northeast Regional meet in Boston, but after her best summer of training the Guardian should certainly have more honors coming her way.
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. Sydney Masciarelli, Marianapolis Prep, Class of 2020 - Masciarell made the 30 min trip from her home in Northbridge, Massachusetts to Marianapolis Prep in Thompson every day. While not a CT resident, Masciarelli was the CT two time Gatorade Athlete of the Year. She was the Foot Locker Northeast Regional and National champion in 2018 and finished 2nd her junior year at Regionals and 7th at Nationals. Also a standout basketball player and combined her love of her two favorite sports to break the women’s world record for the fastest mile while dribbling a basketball. She lowered the record eight seconds to 5:08.57. Foss Running Camp Will take place August 14-19, 2025 at Camp Wah Nee in Torrington, CT Visit their website at fossrunningcamp.com for more information and to apply for 2025.
More news |
