Millbrook Girls XC takes second at 10th Annual O'Connell Invitational
Over the past 10 years the O'Connell Invitational at Cheshire Academy, sponsored each year by Greg O'Connell and his family, has grown from a small race of five or six local teams to a large race attracting 14 girls teams and 13 boys teams, as well as a junior boarding school race in the morning. Overall, 700+ runners ran through the woods of Cheshire yesterday. Millbrook has been there from the beginning, and the race is one of our favorites, because of the crazy, root-covered hill in the woods that runners need to sprint-crawl up not once, but twice, and because of the pizzas with which each team leaves at the end of the day!
Millbrook girls ran our race yesterday, not worrying too much about the rest of the field. Sarah Dietrich and Chloe Naese went out together, but by the second mile, Sarah had pulled out in front and finished the race in 12th place, in a time of 22:49. Chloe took 18th in 23:11, a steady 7:27 mile pace through a tough course. Isabel Seaborn went into a full-on sprint with 600 yards to go, and she passed 5 or 6 runners, including just edging out Kelsey McEvoy at the tape - Isabel and Kelsey finished 24th and 26th in 24:25 and 24:31 respectively. Kelsey gets the hard-core award for the afternoon, running most of the race in only one shoe! Millbrook's fifth runner, running her best race of the season so far, was Charlotte Kasmin in 25:33. Amanda Clizbe, Anna Waldschmidt, and Jennie Richardson rounded out Millbrook's field. We attended the awards ceremony for Sarah's and Chloe's medals, and when team results were announced, we were thrilled to collect the second place spot with 120 points! First was Newton Country Day with an astonishing 33 points, and in third place was Chase Collegiate, with 146. So, a great afternoon for Millbrook School! Congratulations to Millbrook boys, who ran really well, and compiled a terrific 116 point team score. And demonstrating the extended Millbrook running family, Alan Tousignant and I got to hang out with Andrea Tehan Carnes, a former Mustang, who is coaching Stonleigh Burnham's team.
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Millbrook girls ran our race yesterday, not worrying too much about the rest of the field. Sarah Dietrich and Chloe Naese went out together, but by the second mile, Sarah had pulled out in front and finished the race in 12th place, in a time of 22:49. Chloe took 18th in 23:11, a steady 7:27 mile pace through a tough course. Isabel Seaborn went into a full-on sprint with 600 yards to go, and she passed 5 or 6 runners, including just edging out Kelsey McEvoy at the tape - Isabel and Kelsey finished 24th and 26th in 24:25 and 24:31 respectively. Kelsey gets the hard-core award for the afternoon, running most of the race in only one shoe! Millbrook's fifth runner, running her best race of the season so far, was Charlotte Kasmin in 25:33. Amanda Clizbe, Anna Waldschmidt, and Jennie Richardson rounded out Millbrook's field. We attended the awards ceremony for Sarah's and Chloe's medals, and when team results were announced, we were thrilled to collect the second place spot with 120 points! First was Newton Country Day with an astonishing 33 points, and in third place was Chase Collegiate, with 146. So, a great afternoon for Millbrook School! Congratulations to Millbrook boys, who ran really well, and compiled a terrific 116 point team score. And demonstrating the extended Millbrook running family, Alan Tousignant and I got to hang out with Andrea Tehan Carnes, a former Mustang, who is coaching Stonleigh Burnham's team.
