Griswold's LaBelle finishes second at ECC cross country championships
The Griswold boys cross-country team is stepped in championship tradition with a Hall of Fame former coach, ex-All-Americans, 15 state titles, and recently, a rare local set of triplets leading the team to its last state crown.
Certainly, former coach Gerry Chester, All-America Tradelle Ward, national mile and two-mile indoor champ Gavin Coombs and the Strain triplets who led the Wolverines to a 2022 state title are tough acts to follow.
But freshman Tycen LaBelle looks very capable of following in those footsteps, if not racing past them.
LaBelle, who grew up in Griswold before moving to Preston in elementary school, finished second in the Eastern Connecticut Conference championships Thursday with an excellent time of 16:39 on the difficult Norwich Golf Club 3.1-mile course.
"His work ethic and training has been extremely impressive from the first time I met him," Griswold coach Kelsey Nixon said. "Seeing and hearing about what he was doing over the summer. He's been a leader from the start. Give him a task and he'll give it his all. It doesn't matter if it's an easy day or a tough workout, he gives it his all."
LaBelle’s mark was just 10 seconds behind the winner, East Lyme junior Sean McCauley, and equal to the 2022 winning time of Stonington senior Ryan Gruczka, now a Division I runner at Northeastern.
"Ward ran about 16:10 here when he made All-America as a senior [in 2005]," said the retired Chester, who was at the meet. "For a freshman to run 16:39 is exceptional."
LaBelle said he plans to run distance races during indoor and outdoor track. His ascension as an elite runner did not begin until two years ago.
"I started getting serious about running when I realized in the seventh grade I was quite good at it," LaBelle said. "Today, I was hoping for top five, preferably top three, but I exceeded my expectations. I want to keep things going for the states and don't know what to expect, but I'm going to enjoy the ride."
Griswold finished sixth as a team with 178 points behind East Lyme (27), Ledyard (86), Fitch (87), NFA (88) and Woodstock (102) in the 15-team event. The Wolverines were second in Division II behind Ledyard but Labelle's race nearly stole the show.
"He's a great all-around kid in and out of the classroom,” Nixon added. "The next four years we are in for a great ride.”
More: Triplets help Griswold boys capture 15th state cross country crown
Good day for NFA
The Norwich Free Academy boys cross country team finished second in ECC Division I as they did during the regular season behind East Lyme. Wildcat runners Patrick Croughwell (12), Jesse Croteau (14th) and Nicholas Debartolo (19th) had top 20 finishes to earn All-ECC honors.
NFA's girls finished fifth with 120 points but was just 20 points behind ECC Division I champ East Lyme.
Wildcats veteran coach Kara Kochanski-Vendola, who led NFA to a Class LL state title in 2009, was extremely encouraged that NFA placed three: Karina Chan (8th), Helen Muench (11th) and Paige Brayman (14th) among the top 15.
"This is the first year since 2012 that we felt we could challenge East Lyme," Kochanski-Vendola said, "and we have a young team. None of the top five are seniors, and Muench and Brayman are freshmen. We have a group now that realizes the importance of summer running. We are determined to put NFA back on the ECC map. It feels good."
They said it
"When I walked into the Griswold gym, I saw all of the green state title banners on the wall. I'd like to put some more up there." - Griswold freshman Tycen LaBelle.
More: Griswold's Strain triplets ready to blaze own trails as they graduate. Where they are going
Just the facts
LaBelle finished second overall as a freshman in 16:39. The next fastest freshman was Lyman Memorial’s Kellen Johnson (31st) in 18:59. To put LaBelle's time in recent context, the Strains, who excelled in basketball as well as running, ran about 17:20 to 17:30.
Family ties
Lyman Memorial’s Hazel DeLucia, the daughter of Norwich Tech athletic director Tim Delucia, won the ECC girls race in 20:08, 52 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher Avery Maiese (Waterford).
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Griswold's LaBelle ready to add to Wolverines running tradition
