By Senior Correspondent Marty Ogden, Editing and Graphics by Ron Knapp

MEET INFO & ENTRIES & Live Results on AthleticNet from Payne’s Corner Timing

Wickham Park XC Records at The Running Academy

When the conversation about cross country in Connecticut comes up, Wickham Park must be part of the story. It is a non-profit, private foundation whose property extends into both Manchester and East Hartford, Connecticut. The park contains 280 acres of gardens, open fields, woodlands, ponds, picnic areas, sports facilities, and other attractions which is a perfect location for racing over hill and dale. The majority of the land, 130 acres, was a gift from Clarence H. Wickham which became a park in 1967. By the early 70s local teams began to use the park for dual meets but in 1982, current meet director Bill Baron with the help of former Manchester coach George Suitor and former Penney coach Dick Brimley organized the first Wickham Invitational with the CIAC beginning to use the park for the State Open two years later. 

And finally in the summer of 2014 the 5km course was officially measured that included mile and kilometer markings that hosted high school course records of 17:39.0 by Pomperaug’s Kate Wiser in the 2019 Class L meet and a 14:58.0 by Darien’s Alex Ostberg at the 2014 State Open meet. The fastest boys’ time at the Wickham XC Invitational is from Robbie Cozean of Xavier at 15:35.0 in 2019. The fastest time by a girls’ race finisher in the Wickham Invite was by Rachel St. Germain of Somers at 18:16.0 in 2021.

Since that time, CT cross country history has been written on the trails and fields of Wickham Park and the 42nd edition of the Invitational will take place on Saturday beginning at 9 am with a girls middle school race and it will end as soon as the last boys varsity runner crosses the line after 5 pm. In between those hours, over 2,200 middle school, junior varsity and varsity boys and girls will sweat and strain over their respective 3000m (for MS) and 5000m (for HS) courses for a chance to earn a T-shirt for the race winners, trophies for the top 35 varsity runners and medals for the next 25 finishers. Middle school, freshman and JV races will get medals for the top 50 finishers. Team trophies will be up for grabs as well for the top four varsity teams and top two in the middle school and freshman races. 

SPREAD THE WORD - Athletes, coaches and fans can commemorate their experiences of the 2025 Wickham XC Invite by shopping early for their gear from Marathon Sports online or visit the store tent on meet day!

Varsity Previews

This year, the meet's timing presents a challenge, as it coincides with most conference championships. Traditionally held on Columbus Day weekend, the event now falls just before the CCC Championship on Tuesday, and the FCIAC, CCC, CTC, NCCC, NVL, SCC, and SWC meets all on Wednesday. So it will be interesting to see which teams race the meet with their entire top seven, tempo the race or just run their junior varsity runners. 

2:15 pm Girls Large Division (Class L & LL)

After a series of Middle School, Freshman and Junior Varsity and 30 minute lunch break for the officials, the Girls Large School race will be the first varsity competition of the day. Glastonbury, the defending State Open champions and top ranked team in the latest Marathon Sports-New Balance CT HS XC Coaches Poll headlines the race. They probably won’t go all out, but will be trying to give their runners a good look at the course before the CCC and Class LL championships coming up in the next few weeks. Cheshire is ranked 7th in the Coaches Poll and Ridgefield, who has been laying low this season are other teams that should be up in the front of the standings. 

Lauren Parrott, who has already gone under 18 minutes for 5k at the Winding Trails Invite and was 2nd to Chase Gilbert at the Wilton Invite should be the favorite. 

Other runners to keep an eye on  should be: Caleigh Cooleen - Fairfield Ludlowe, Sofia Holovatska - South Windsor, Alexa Nunez - Wethersfield, Maya Donzella - Windsor, Carolyn Kamp - Glastonbury, Angelina Ruggeri - Ridgefield

2:45 pm Boys Large Division (Class L & LL)

Since the Bay State does not compete in New Englands for cross country, it is rare for a top ranked team in Massachusetts to compete in Connecticut. New England cross-country fans are in for a special treat this Saturday as Lexington, currently ranked 3rd in the New Balance MA Boys Power Rankings, travels to Manchester. The Minutemen were 2nd in the Championship race at the Ocean State Invitational, defeating CT top ranked Xavier who is in the Medium School race. We will see how well our neighbors to the north do against the Green Monster. They will face CT #6 Glastonbury, who was 2nd at the Winding Trails Large School race and CT #7 E.O. Smith who was 2nd at the Woods Trail Run in Thetford, VT this past weekend. 

If he runs, Amity’s Luke Cushing should be among the favorites. He was 2nd at last year’s State Open and was already in an outstanding duel against two of the best runners in the New England Prep School League Nathan Lee and Teddy Hojlo of Brunswick at the Wilton Invitational, running a 15:39 in his only race of the season so far. 

Other runners to keep an eye on should be: Andrew Sharron - Darien, Alex Cook - E.O. Smith, Jack Mooney - Cheshire, Crawford Cauthen - Glastonbury, Alden Hall - Lexington, Rhys Behling - Lexington

3:15 pm Girls Small Division (Class S & SS)

You have to dig through the results to learn who the favorites are in the small school races but two seem to stand out among the pack. Shepaug Valley is having a fantastic season, taking 2nd Winding Trails small school  race and the Nonnewaug Invitation behind CT #6 Staples. Bacon Academy is also shining this fall finishing 2nd at Going to the Sun and 4th at the CT River Valley Invitationals. 

If she runs, Lyme Old Lyme’s Chase Gilbert should be the easy winner of the Small School race. Besides being a Footlocker Finalist and the top returner from last year’s State Open, she has already won the Wilton Invitational and finished 2nd at the Ocean State Invitational. 

Other runners to keep an eye on should be: Lillian Casini - Shepaug Valley, Kiersten Page - Bacon Academy, Adriana Rocco - Thomaston, Molly Sedito - Shepaug Valley

3:45 pm Boys Small Division (Class S & SS)

Thomaston has already had a strong season taking the runner up spots at the CT River Valley, Going to the Sun and Nonnewaug Invitationals. But at the Going to the Sun meet, they were defeated by Bacon Academy. Thomaston seems to have more depth, but Bacon Academy is a little better up front. Throw in Shepaug Valley who isn’t that far behind both teams and a small improvement from one runner or a bad race by another could swing the fortunes of these three solid small school teams. 

This could be a rematch from the CT River Valley Invitational at the beginning of the season. Portland’s Breckin and Hayden Burke went 3-4 in their fastest times of the season with Thomaston’s Beau Kociszewski taking the next spot behind the pair. Gavin Baron of Granby Memorial was 7th in that race. 

Other runners to keep an eye on should be: Joel Capelle - Derby, Dominic Lombardo - Bolton, Wylden Abraham -Shepaug Valley

4:15 pm Girls Medium Division (Class M & MM)

Pomperaug was 4th at the Wilton Invitational to start off their season and have remained undefeated for the first time in the SWC since 2007 which has led them to an 8th place ranking in the Marathon Sports-New Balance CT High School XC Coaches Girls’ Poll. We will have to see how they hold up to the added competition against teams throughout the state, but the Panthers look pretty good to take home a trophy on Saturday. Daniel Hand also won the Medium race at the Winding Trails Invitational and Sacred Heart Academy was 2nd at the Lauralton Hall Classic and the SCC Hammonasset Division race. Don’t overlook Woodstock Academy who has a shot at a top four finish. 

Daniel Hand’s Annecy Vlieks has been a veteran of cross country battles since she was in middle school and she is finishing off her final year of high school before she moves onto Middlebury College. She has built up quite a resume taking the runner-up spot at the Class M meet the past two years and qualifying for New Englands both seasons. She will most likely face off against Pomperaug’s Madelyn Mariani who has won all of her dual meets and was last tested at the Wilton Invitational. 

Other runners to keep an eye on should be: Jenna Luoma - Ellington, Mackenzie Spooner - Sacred Heart Academy, Rebecca Langlais - Tolland, Ellie Ballard - RHAM

4:45 pm Boys Medium Division (Class M & MM)

Even if they use this race as a workout, Xavier still comes in as the favorite in the Medium School race. The Falcons are a young team but they have proven themselves worthy of the honor with wins over Greenwich and East Lyme, the next two teams in the poll at Ocean State. E.O. Smith, the Class MM runner up  the past two years and 7th ranked team in CT has chosen to move up to the Large School Race. Avon, Ellington, Fitch and Notre Dame - West Haven could battle it out for the trophies. 

Sean Gray, the defending champion, is not on his team Portsmouth, RI's seven-person roster, making his participation questionable despite their entry in the meet. The same can be said for Avon’s Brahm Bulow who has been tearing up the trails this fall. With CCCs on the same course on Tuesday, you can’t blame him for sitting this one out. This leaves any number of Xavier runners who could just tempo the first half of the race and run hard toward the end and still come out on top. While the Falcons have been led by Nolan O’Connor, they have a tight pack that could still bunch together to let someone else get a chance to shine. But if Xavier decides to just pack it together the entire way, Julien Silva of Fitch has looked good this season after finishing 33rd at the State Open last year and going under 4:20 for the 1600m during spring track. Brian Smith was the surprise Class M winner last year and could also pop something off. 

Other runners to keep an eye on should be: Daniel Reilly - Kaynor Tech, Robert Piccirillo - Pomperaug, Caleb Zahner - Ellington, Christopher Campbell - Avon.

Best Times on the Wickham 5000m Course:

Boys Fastest Time at the Wickham Invitational

- Robbie Cozean Xavier 15:35.0 2019

Boys Wickham Course Record

- Alex Ostberg Darien 14:58.0 State Open 2014

Girls Fastest Time at the Wickham Invitational

- Rachel St. Germain Somers 18:16.0  2021

Girls Wickham Course Record

- Kate Wiser Pomperaug 17:39.0 Class L 2019

SPREAD THE WORD - Athletes, coaches and fans can commemorate their experiences of the 2025 Wickham XC Invite by shopping early for their gear from Marathon Sports online or visit the store tent on meet day!