Staples High School Cross Country Individual Results

By Ed Flink THE NEWS-TIMES

BETHEL — Kara and the Kids are better than all right. With senior frontrunner Kara Fisher showing the way for a quartet of underclassmen, the New Milford High girls cross country team posted an impressive victory at the Bethel Invitational Saturday.
Fisher won the 2.5-mile race with a time of 16 minutes, 11 seconds while the Green Wave tallied 75 points to beat runner-up Staples-Westport (98). In the boys race, Joel Barlow senior Brian Colonnese prevailed by covering the 3-mile layout in 16:18. Newtown gave a dominant performance, putting six runners in the top 12 en route to scoring 41 points. Second place went to Staples (98). Fisher, the reigning South-West Conference champion, can become the first girl to defend her league title since Bethel’s Erin St. John captured three in a row (1990-92). She outlasted sophomore Laura Simons of New Fairfield by 21 seconds. “She’s running smoothly,” Green Wave coach Tom Marks said. “She wasn’t really pushed. I thought she could’ve had a faster time.”
A year ago, Fisher was new to the sport. She’s now a stronger, smarter runner who believes in her ability.
“I’ve upped my training so I feel I should be getting better. I feel like I’m improving,” Fisher said. “I know more how the races go so I feel a little more confident when I start the race. I’m definitely looking to repeat SWCs. I’m hoping our team can win, too. We have a really strong team.” The talented supporting cast includes Laura Hermann (15th), Morgan Fisher (16th), Becca Martin (21st) and Kate Welton (22nd). The SWC might want to keep an eye on this lineup. Morgan Fisher is a freshman (and Kara’s sister); the other three girls are sophomores. “The whole team ran well,” Marks said. “My underclassmen are just running really good. They ran in a pack today. They feel very confident. They’re all healthy and they’re having a good time.
“They’re too young to realize how well they’re doing and I’m not going to tell them,” he added.
Colonnese held off Staples’ Cameron Marantz by 15 seconds.
“I felt good but it wasn’t easy,” he said.
Inspired by former teammates Max Feldman and Ian Foley, Colonnese became the first Barlow boy to win a state title in cross country, winning the Class M race last fall.
“It definitely showed that the work paid off so it motivated me to keep going,” said Colonnese, who spent the summer working out with Tyler Silverman, another ex-Falcon now in college. “I would definitely say I’m way ahead of where I was.”
Newtown coasted to victory behind Alister Ratcliff (3rd), Charlie Baldour (8th), Jay Shunter (9th), Eric McKnight (10th) and Scott Nichols (11th).
How good were the Nighthawks? Jake Sullivan finished 12th overall but wasn’t even a scorer. And projected pacesetter Peter Dittmar hasn’t raced yet as he recovers from a quad injury. Only 40 seconds separated the top six.
“It was definitely a solid performance. They just ran as a pack,” first-year coach Dave Foss said. “And that’s without Peter Dittmar.
“I think it say a lot. I think we can go places. We’re obviously optimistic. They trained incredibly well over the summer and

they have a lot of heart.”
Dittmar could make his season debut Tuesday, Foss said.

NOTES: The New Milford boys and the Ridgefield girls, both ranked No. 1 in the state coaches’ poll after each won the State Open last fall, did not bring their “A” teams. New Milford competed at a meet in Long Island, N.Y., while Ridgefield participated in the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C.

		Staples High School Bethel Invitational 2004
New Milford girls, Newtown boys run to wins at Bethel Invitational *By Ed Flink THE NEWS-TIMES* BETHEL — Kara and the Kids are better than all right. With senior frontrunner Kara Fisher showing the way for a quartet of underclassmen, the New Milford High girls cross country team posted an impressive victory at the Bethel Invitational Saturday. Fisher won the 2.5-mile race with a time of 16 minutes, 11 seconds while the Green Wave tallied 75 points to beat runner-up Staples-Westport (98). In the boys race, Joel Barlow senior Brian Colonnese prevailed by covering the 3-mile layout in 16:18. Newtown gave a dominant performance, putting six runners in the top 12 en route to scoring 41 points. Second place went to Staples (98). Fisher, the reigning South-West Conference champion, can become the first girl to defend her league title since Bethel’s Erin St. John captured three in a row (1990-92). She outlasted sophomore Laura Simons of New Fairfield by 21 seconds. “She’s running smoothly,” Green Wave coach Tom Marks said. “She wasn’t really pushed. I thought she could’ve had a faster time.” A year ago, Fisher was new to the sport. She’s now a stronger, smarter runner who believes in her ability. “I’ve upped my training so I feel I should be getting better. I feel like I’m improving,” Fisher said. “I know more how the races go so I feel a little more confident when I start the race. I’m definitely looking to repeat SWCs. I’m hoping our team can win, too. We have a really strong team.” The talented supporting cast includes Laura Hermann (15th), Morgan Fisher (16th), Becca Martin (21st) and Kate Welton (22nd). The SWC might want to keep an eye on this lineup. Morgan Fisher is a freshman (and Kara’s sister); the other three girls are sophomores. “The whole team ran well,” Marks said. “My underclassmen are just running really good. They ran in a pack today. They feel very confident. They’re all healthy and they’re having a good time. “They’re too young to realize how well they’re doing and I’m not going to tell them,” he added. Colonnese held off Staples’ Cameron Marantz by 15 seconds. “I felt good but it wasn’t easy,” he said. Inspired by former teammates Max Feldman and Ian Foley, Colonnese became the first Barlow boy to win a state title in cross country, winning the Class M race last fall. “It definitely showed that the work paid off so it motivated me to keep going,” said Colonnese, who spent the summer working out with Tyler Silverman, another ex-Falcon now in college. “I would definitely say I’m way ahead of where I was.” Newtown coasted to victory behind Alister Ratcliff (3rd), Charlie Baldour (8th), Jay Shunter (9th), Eric McKnight (10th) and Scott Nichols (11th). How good were the Nighthawks? Jake Sullivan finished 12th overall but wasn’t even a scorer. And projected pacesetter Peter Dittmar hasn’t raced yet as he recovers from a quad injury. Only 40 seconds separated the top six. “It was definitely a solid performance. They just ran as a pack,” first-year coach Dave Foss said. “And that’s without Peter Dittmar. “I think it say a lot. I think we can go places. We’re obviously optimistic. They trained incredibly well over the summer and they have a lot of heart.” Dittmar could make his season debut Tuesday, Foss said. NOTES: The New Milford boys and the Ridgefield girls, both ranked No. 1 in the state coaches’ poll after each won the State Open last fall, did not bring their “A” teams. New Milford competed at a meet in Long Island, N.Y., while Ridgefield participated in the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C.