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Top plays from the weekend: Griswold, NFA runners qualify for State Open

the bulletin
·2 min read

Cross country runners from Norwich Free Academy and Griswold earned spots in the annual CIAC State Open meet, while the NFA girls swim team had a few first-place finishers in their final meet of the season.

Here are the weekend's top performances:

Boys cross country

Michael Strain, Griswold: Senior placed third (17:26) at Saturday’s Class SS meet to lead the Wolverines to the school’s 15th boys state cross country title. Griswold edged Suffield, 56-58. Strain’s triplet brothers, Lucas Strain and Jacob Strain, also finished in the top 10, while senior Jackson Collins (15th) and Maxwell Brown (21st) were instrumental in helping the Wolverines win its first state title since 2007.

NFA's Eliana Duclos placed 25th at the Class LL meet on Saturday to qualify for the State Open.
NFA's Eliana Duclos placed 25th at the Class LL meet on Saturday to qualify for the State Open.

Norwich Free Academy: The Wildcats placed ninth at the Class LL meet at Wickham Park on Saturday and will compete as a team at Friday’s State Open. NFA junior Sawyer Barile placed 33rd in 17:20. Also competing for the Wildcats were Patrick Croughwell, Ashton Croteau, Jesse Croteau, Nicholas Debartolo, Ethan Manfredi, and Robinson Meuse.

Girls cross country

Eliana Duclos, NFA: The Wildcats senior qualified for the State Open by finishing 25th at Saturday’s Class LL championship meet at Wickham Park in Manchester.  Her time was 21:06.

NFA's Bezanson voted 'Athlete of the Week'

Girls swimming

Natalie Bezanson, NFA: Sophomore won the 500 freestyle in the Wildcats' final meet of the season against Fitch. Bezanson was also part of the Wildcats winning 400 relay team with Mercedes Aleksjuka, Stephanie Wells, and Gianna Lennon.

Stephanie Herr, NFA: Junior won the 100 Breaststroke in a meet against Fitch. The Falcons prevailed, 100-64.

Girls volleyball

Kaylee Gray, Norwich Tech: Senior collected 12 digs and six kills but the Warriors (10-9) fell short against Wheeler 3-0 in a non-league match.

Abby Ulrich, Norwich Tech: Sophomore had 11 digs in a 25-11, 26-24, 25-21 loss against Wheeler (15-5).

More:Thames River will win, Plainfield will lose: Week 8 high school football predictions

Football

Soren Rief, Killingly: Junior rushed for 295 yards on 27 carries and scored five touchdowns in Killingly’s 52-19 win against Fitch. Killingly improved to 6-1 and moved up to No. 4 in the CIAC Class MM playoff rankings.

Alex Potapskiy, Killingly: Senior led the team with seven tackles and two quarterback sacks in a 52-19 win against Fitch.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: NFA's Duclos, Wildcat cross country runners qualify for State Open