Shepaug’s Sean Parker is cheered on by spectators during boys Berkshire League Cross Country Championships in Watertown on Thursday. Parker was the overall winner of the race in a time of 16:10. Christopher Massa Republican-American
By RICK WILSON
Republican-American
WATERTOWN — Sometimes sharing the gold works out pretty well, too. So it was in the Berkshire League boys cross country championship held in mild conditions at Black Rock State Park on Thursday afternoon.
Shepaug didn’t run away with the championship, but the Spartans had a champion. Northwestern did not have a champion, but ran away with the championship. If it wasn’t perfect, it was all pretty good.
Shepaug’s Sean Parker bolted away from the field to capture the individual title while undefeated Northwestern dethroned the defending champion Spartans, 43-61, with an impressive pack performance, placing its five runners in the top 15.
Parker outdistanced his closest competitor, Northwestern’s Gavin Woodward, by 48 seconds, calmly cruising the 3.1-mile course in 16:10, just 10 seconds off the course record of 16 minutes flat set by Thomaston’s Rich Klauber in 2007.
Parker saw Woodward early, but, in his words, “after a mile, I stopped seeing him.” Parker was a lone figure on the finish line landscape. The victory did not come as a surprise. He has been the BL’s top runner all season, winning all of his dual and invitational meets except for a sixth-place finish in the Wickham Invitational.
“After training the way I did this summer, the way I came out this season, this is what I hoped for,” said Parker. “I knew if I went and ran my own race I could probably pull it off. I took a minute, 10 seconds off last year’s time.”
Parker admitted the race was a new experience for him in one respect.
“The mental preparation for a race when everyone is hunting for you makes it harder than coming in behind someone,” Parker said. “You have to know that your preparation will get you through the race and trust in your coaches and yourself.”
Woodward also ran a strong race in finishing second for the second year in a row. Last year, departed teammate Peter Bakker took top honors.
“Sean put a lot of work in over the summer. I’m glad to see it work out for him,” said Woodward. “I am pleased with my result. I improved on my time from last year.”
Woodward and his Highlanders were especially pleased to take home the team title. Sam Schiffer (sixth), Connor Spencer (eighth), Sean Labbe (13th) and Brandon Beland (15th) were just too many swift feet for any team to match.
“(Winning the championship) was one of our team goals this year,” said Northwestern coach Allison Beauchene. “They have such good team chemistry.”
“This is one of our strongest teams. There is great team dynamic. I am pleased with the results,” said Woodward. “I am glad to see us come together. We’ve raced Shepaug a bunch of times and we know their runners. So we knew if we got our spots, we would beat them.”
Shepaug entered the meet with an 8-1 record, with its only loss to Northwestern. Nonnewaug, which finished fourth, was 7-2.
Joining Parker and Woodward on the All-BL team (top nine) were Stephen Scougall of Thomaston with a strong third-place finish, Chandler Wetherbee of Shepaug (fourth), Corey Picard of Terryville (fifth), Schiffer, Nick O’Brien of Lewis Mills (seventh), Spencer and Dylan Geissinger of Nonnewaug (ninth).