Greenwich’s Noble takes first in FCIAC cross country meet

GREENWICH — A hot, humid, summer-like fall day, didn’t prevent the high school runners in Wednesday’s cross country meet from posting impressive times.

The New Canaan girls and the Greenwich boys teams each defeated their three foes, while Mari Noble of the Cardinals registered yet another first-place finish at Greenwich Point’s 3-mile course.

The girls’ race took place first and Noble, a junior, crossed the finish line first in 18 minutes, 2 seconds. Mairead Clas, a Darien sophomore, was the runner-up in 18:36, followed by Sophie Curcio from New Canaan (19:36).

“I was coming off a really hard race just a few days ago, it was a little hilly,” said Noble, who is producing another standout season for the Cardinals. “I rested the past few days. I think our team has a lot of potential, we are training really hard and having fun.”

Noble also stars on Greenwich’s track and field team during the winter and spring.

“My last two track seasons have helped me develop my kick overall,” Noble said. “I am excited for the championship season to see how the team does.”

Clas was pleased with her time for Darien on the challenging course.

“I just tried to stay relaxed and focused,” Clas said. the course was really pretty, I liked it a lot. Our season has been going really well and we’re looking forward to the State Open.”

New Canaan’s Molly Murphy was fourth overall (20:07), followed by teammates Lauren Doherty (20:18), Skylar Bennett (20:19) and Breanne Shipman (20:21).

“It was really hot, we knew that coming in,” Murphy said. “But we planned to pack all our runners to get a lot of top-10 places. Even though the course was set up tough, we did well. It’s a good course for training and preparation for FCIACs and states.”

Added Curcio: “In these conditions, I thought I did really well compared to my last 3-mile race. I just wanted to give as much as I had no matter what the weather was and just tried to push as hard as I could.”

Julianne Teitler from Darien (20:43), Charlotte Moody (Darien, 20:56) and Zoe Harris of Greenwich (21:13) rounded out the top-10 finishers. Riley Shipman from New Canaan (21:13) and Kaitlyn Lisjak (Greenwich) were 11th and 12, respectively.

“This is our home course and we ran a really good race, it was a lot of fun,” Lisjak said. “So many people on our team are improving and getting better. We are all doing a good job of pushing each other along.”

New Canaan defeated Greenwich, 20-40, and beat Darien, 20-39. They also topped Stamford, 15-50. Darien edged Greenwich, 26-29, and beat Stamford, while the Cardinals defeated the Black Knights.

On the boys’ side, Darien’s Cormac Brown won the 3-mile race, clocking in at 16:29. Greenwich’s Alexander Bien was second in 16:31, followed by Zachary Zelinek (17:11) and New Canaan’s Ajar Carraby-Jones (17:37). Luca Palamenti of New Canaan was fifth in 17:43.

“It was super hot and a good race, Alex Bein went out super fast,” Brown said. “Bein was in front the whole time, right up until the last 200 meters, so he put up a good fight. It was a fun course.”

Bein set the pace of the race.

“I knew going in it was going to be a tight group at the top,” Bein said. “Right at the end, I kicked as hard as I could and that’s where it got me. I’m definitely happy with my time and I’ll try to improve it at the next meet, before we go into FCIACs. We’ve been using these meets to prepare for the postseason.”

Said GHS boys cross country coach Sean Astle: “He (Bein) was outstanding, he’s everything you want in a student-athlete and the captain of our team.”

Said Jelinek: “I got in a great mind set and felt great the entire race. Bein is great motivation for me, he pushes me to run faster. I’m very excited for states.”

Greenwich beat Darien, 24-35 and was a 27-30 winner against New Canaan. The Cards also beat Stamford. New Canaan topped Darien, 25-30.

“The season is going well, we are in a good place,” Astle said. “Everyone ran the times they were supposed to today and we are looking forward to the postseason.”

dfierro@greenwichtime.com