Berlin Runners Should Be Contenders

The Berlin girl's cross country team was 14-1 and the boys 9-6. They have already lost to their nemesis, Bristol Central. The girls by one point and the boys by just a few. The rest of the season looks to be bright for the runners as many solid runners return from each team. 

The girls finished third in class MM, the best place finish in Berlin history, while the boys finished 11th in MM.

Key losses for the cross country teams are: captains Will Cavedon and Kaylene Sylvain as well as Alex Carbonell, Chelsea Vujs, Emily Baroni, Carly Cohen, Andrew Kuper, Frank Davilla and Sage Szmanski.

Back to lead Berlin on the girls side will be juniors Brittany Sullivan and Nicole Grieco senior Nicole Sylvain, sophomores Kristen Madeia and Taylor Lupini and seniors Stef Parillo and Paige Young.

Junior James Dwyer and seniors Brendan McLarty, Matt Kall, Lawrence Betterini and Ryan Kliszewski will lead the boys. Junior Sean Pollock is a newcomer who could help the boy’s team.

"The girls team has depth and some strong runners at the front of the pack," said Berlin coach Steve Soucy. "The boys worked over the summer and should see the benefits in race results."

Soucy has high hopes for both teams, especially the girls.

"We should be top one or two teams in Class MM and should be first Berlin team to qualify for state open," he said. "We would like the girls to have a lower than 1:45:00 team time. For the boys, we are hoping for top 10 finish in MM and possibly even better."

Soucy said Avon and Guilford should be the top teams in Class MM.

Matt Kall, Ryan Kliszewski and Lawrence Betterini are the captains of the boy’s team while Nicole Sylvain, Stef Parrillo, Jess Cantone and Brittany Sullivan will captains the girls.

The Windham Invitational

BHS runners competed in the Windham Invitational on Saturday. The Boys finished 13th out of 18 teams. James Dwyer finished the course in 17:57, becoming the first BHS runner to go sub 18 minutes since 2010. Brendan McLarty also ran well for Berlin.

The BHS Girls ran to a fifth place finish. Sophomores Kristen Madeia and Taylor Lupini led the Redcoats. All seven Berlin girls were medalists. 

Next up for BHS is the Connecticut River Valley Championships next weekend in Cromwell.