Berlin High Cross Country Teams Sweep Two Races

Both Berlin High School cross country teams improved to 5-1 after competing against Bristol Eastern and Platt. 

The Boys' team ran strong to take the overall top two places in the race and seven of the top 10.

"We were able to hold our pack together throughout the race and the boys just wore down the other two teams," Berlin coach Steve Soucy said. "For the first two miles or so a Platt runner was in the lead, but James Dwyer and Brendan McLarty were able to close the gap and pull away for  the one two finish. 

"I told them that with the conditions the way they were, that if they were going to go after the win they had to make their move before the course went onto the slippery grass surface. They utilized the roads and were able to take the lead and hold it all the way in."

They were followed closely by Matt Kall, Lawrence Betterini and Sam Papacoda.

The boys are in the Unseeded Race at the Wickham Invitational this Saturday and will be looking to get an idea how we will do in Class MM.  Most of the teams the Redcoats will be competing against come the end of October will be at this weekend's race.

The girls also notched two more victories.

The girls team took seven of the top 10 places and 14 of the first 20 on their way to convincing wins. 

"Our top seven have remained consistent all year and have been working extremely hard," Soucy said. "Taylor Lupini had a strong race today moving up to fourth in our seven. Lindsey Stefens and Kristen Stack also put in strong efforts. 

"The rain slowed everyone down today and we were a bit more cautious with the girls going after the top place. After two miles there was a group of five, four Berlin runners and one Bristol East, that were in the lead. We decided it would be better to just let the East runner go and play it conservative to avoid injuries all together. We have some big races coming up and the girls are really concentrating on those."

The girls got into the Championship race this Saturday at the Wickham Invitational. There are hundreds of teams registered in the race from all over New England and our girls will be racing with the top 17 teams.