CONNECTICUT STATE MEET

Ridgefield Boys, Glastonbury Girls Dominate State Open Meet; Soheib Dissa, Brooke Strauss Victorious At Wickham Park

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

There were no “tricks” or surprises at the Connecticut Cross Country State Open Championships Thursday, Oct. 31. On a warm Halloween day at Wickham Park in Manchester, the top teams and runners took care of business. 

The Ridgefield boys, ranked No. 1 in the state, rolled to their second straight Open title with a dominating 43 points.

This was the Tigers’ third title in the last four seasons. Runner-up was East Lyme with 63 points and E.O. Smith was third with 152 points.

Ridgefield senior Magnus Manley led the team with a third place finish overall (15:44). The team had four runners in the top 15.

Individually, Newtown senior Soheib Dissa dominated the 5,000-meter course that features a giant hill labeled the “Green Monster.”

Dissa crossed the line in a winning time of 15:24, which is tied for the sixth-fastest time on the course. The Duke commit  was able to move up a spot from his runner-up finish from a year ago. 

On the girls side, Glastonbury’s Brooke Strauss had no trouble claiming the Open title, winning in 18:19, a top 25 time on the course.

Her victory was the capper on a special day as Glastonbury won the team title, the program’s second in the last three years. Glastonbury finished with 62 points with three runners in the top 20. Mercy was second (145 points) and Greenwich was third (173). 

Next up for runners and teams that qualified is the New England Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Wickham Park. 

TEAM CHAMPIONS - RESULTS

Ridgefield boys 43 points; Glastonbury girls 62 points

CLASS DIVISIONALS (Held Saturday, October 26) 

CLASS LL: Ridgefield boys 66 points; Greenwich girls 82 points 

CLASS L: Xavier boys 42 points; New Canaan girls 93 points 

CLASS MM: East Lyme boys 21 points; Mercy girls 37 points 

CLASS M: Rocky Hill boys 42 points; New Fairfield girls 63 points 

CLASS SS: Rocky Hill boys 50 points; Lyman girls 74 points

CLASS S: Haddam-Killingworth boys 44 points Haddam-Killingworth girls 34 points