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Canton earned its pass to the Open by taking second in the Class S championship meet a week earlier, falling to defending Class S champion Shepaug Valley by a score of 75-88. The Spartans one-two punch of Jon Taylor (4th) and Drew Firmender (5) proved too quick for Canton to overcome.
Junior Chris Bussiere recorded the best finish ever by a Canton runner in a Class S meet, taking second place in 16:51 over the 3.1-mile course at Wickham Park.
Bussiere also took second in the NCCC championship meet as Canton completed its finest regular season ever with a 19-3 record in the league and 20-3 overall.
For the first time in 17 years at the school, the girls and boys programs worked out under one coach - fourth-year mentor Tim O'Donnell.
"One of the reasons that the boys team did well is we combined the two teams," O'Donnell said. "A few girls had some incredible work ethic and the two teams fed off each other."
The boys team had a strong year, led by Bussiere, a second-year runner. He won two dual meets and took second at the Stratton Brook Invitational and another dual meet.
Sophomores Greg Carpenter, Chris Bradley, sophomore Phil Prosser and seniors Andrew Kenyon, Teddy Powell and Sean Romano rounded out the top seven.
Carpenter and Bradley finished 14th and 15th, respectively, in Class S while Prosser was 25th. "The kids ran really well," O'Donnell said. "They held their composure and they made a good jump. Three or four had their best races of the year."
But against Shepaug, it wasn't good enough. Still, it was a stellar campaign for the Warriors, who finished third overall in the NCCC. "We knew early we were better than we had been a year before," O'Donnell said. "We were fortunate that everyone stayed healthy and they fed off each other's success. They worked out a little over the summe,r but it was a big difference." Bussiere, Bradley and Carpenter earned All-NCCC honors.
The Canton girls posted their first winning season (18-4 NCCC, 19-4) since 1997 and finished seventh in Class S - its best finish since taking third in 1998.
The big story was freshman Melissa Hambley who unseated defending league champion Marissa Kellner of Ellington in the NCCC championship meet. Hambley captured Canton's first conference title since sophomore Kelly Rainey won the Northwest Conference title in 1978. She is only the third Canton runner to ever win a conference title. Sue Richardson also won a NWC title in 1976.
O'Donnell saw the talent early in the season with Hambley but took it slow. The freshman won the girls junior varsity race at Coginchaug',. going to the Sun Invitational in September.
"She needed to learn how to run at the front of the pack," O'Donnell said. At the Wickham Invitational, Hambley took second in the junior varsity race. She didn't win any dual meets but got stronger as the year progressed.
"She jumped right in front at the league meet," O'Donnell said. "I was worried that she went out too fast. But she looked comfortable and wasn't laboring.
"She did a great job and ran a very good race." Hambley beat Kellner by 10 seconds in 15:25 over the 2.5-mile course at Windsor Locks.
Hambley led the Canton girls at the Class S meet with a 7th place finish, earning a spot in the State Open. She earned a spot on the All-NCCC team.
Senior captain Abby St. Peter won a dual meet early, earned All-NCCC honors and was the backbone of the team. "The freshmen girls really took to her work ethic," O'Donnell said.
Sophomore Jessica Lautenbach, freshman Kim Tomay and Sylvia Doyle rounded out the top five with seniors Grace Mentzer and Melissa Curvino completing the varsity runners.
The Canton girls also finished second in the NCCC league meet behind undefeated Tolland and took third overall in the league.
TRAIL DUST: The best finish for a Canton boy at the State Open was Robert Patterson, who finished 77th in 1995. The best finish for a Canton girl at the Open was from Sue Richardson, who took seventh in 1976. ... The Canton girls fell to Avon 25-32 in an early-season dual meet and finished behind Avon at the Stratton Brook Invitational. But the girls easily beat the Falcons at the NCCC meet with 68 points while Avon was fourth with 98. ... Patterson took second in the NCCC meet in 1995. ... Richardson had the best finish for a Canton girl in the Class S meet by taking second in 1976. ... Bradley also won the Coginchaug junior varsity boys race this year with Carpenter taking a close second. ... The boys team set a new school record for most wins in a season, breaking the record of 16 set a year ago. Included in the 20 wins was a 10-1 performance at the league championship meet where wins and losses are added to a team's league record for each team they beat or lose to at the meet.
