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| Photo by Josh Hummel |
The past weekend, the Hawks hosted the 2nd Annual Riverfront Festival right here in our back yard at Riverside Park. The 15 mins drive for the Hawks was short and sent a sharp source of purpose for the day. As the Hawks hosted in state rival Central Connecticut for the dual meet, the Men's team was looking to defend their title at the meet, while the Women were out there to represent and come home champions. The drive there was a fun drive with everyone focused on the race ahead. Upon getting to the meet you can see the sun beaming down and the high school teams that were there also to run at the festival. It was the Hawks only home meet and they knew they had to represent. As the runners started to get their minds ready for the race that was well in front of them, you can see on the faces of the runners how serious it was to them to start the season off right. As the momentum carried over from the last meet, they were ready. Running by the Connecticut River and through a scenery only XC runners would love with trees, rocks, and hills around it was the perfect scene for a meet to come. With teammates on the Track and Field Team coming out to support each other, there is no question in my mind, these group of runners are a family. The girls went off at 12:15 running the 5k course wile the guys went off 30mins after running the 8k course.
The girls went off as the gun sounded and bunched up into a pack going into the woods. The leader for most of the run was Hartford Freshman, Megan Barry. She was closely followed by two CCSU girls in the woods. The course has started to take a toll on the girls as they came into contact with the rocky back loop of the course. As coaches and teammates were at each mile mark to shout out times, the ladies continued to push the pace through this course. As the race was starting to end, the first girl out of the woods was CCSU's Elizabeth Eberhardt and following her was teammate Katherine Bossardet. Both posting times of 18:54 and 19:02 respectively. The first Hawk to finish through the course was Megan Barry finishing 3rd with a time of 19:16. Marisa Poleta finished 5th with a time of 19:30 in the course. Followed behind her was Jen Flores, Kayla Koonz, Rebecca Mendes, Catherine Carey, Steph Curcio, and Leslie Garabedian. The girls had a great showing at the meet. They ladies were only 7 points behind CCSU with 32 points in the meet.
At 12:45, the guys were off. CCSU runners came into the front of the pack with Hartford bunched up together right next to them. In a sport where ever runner counts, it is very important that each team has the first 5 athletes in at the top spots. The front runners for the guys were two of CCSU's runners and two of Hartford's runners. As the teams made their way in the woods and the course, they were faced with the challenges of the inclining slope that is mid way of their run. The hill that feels like it continues and doesn't stop. Coming fown from the hill, the runners then continued into the back loop again to complete the 8k course. The runners were fatigued and tired, but kept pushing to have that top spot. As the runners started to exit the woods, CCSU's own Craig Hunt came out first with a time of 25:31.01. His teammate, John Krell, came in behind him with a time of 25:56.06. The first Hawk to cross the finish line was Junior Andrew Chalmers with a time of 26:03 which was a PR for him. The second Hawk to cross the finish line was Jonas Hampton finishing 4th with a time of 26:08, besting his previous personal 8k time. Eric Falman was the 3rd Hawk to finish with a time of 26:43 also besting his personal time. At the end of the meet, 6 Hawks finished under their personal best times for the 8k run, but the Hawks were bested by in-state foe CCSU by 16 points.
A great showing by both teams through the day. As they wind down the week they get ready for their next meet at the CCSU Invite in New Britain, CT.
For complete results click on the links below
Men's Results
Women's Results
Also for pictures from the meet, check our photographer Steve McLaughlin's website at the link below
Shots from the Meet
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