Woodstock — Last season's disappointing finish drives this Norwich Free Academy boys' cross country team.

It pushes the Wildcats to work harder and improve on a daily basis.

It helps propel them up hills likes the ones on a tough Woodstock Academy course on Tuesday in a pivotal Eastern Connecticut Conference Large Division race.

Placing an impressive five runners in the top seven, NFA beat previously unbeaten Ledyard, 18-42, and downed Woodstock, 15-47, to move into sole possession of first place. The Wildcats are 8-0 overall, 5-0 in the division. The Colonels defeated the Centaurs, 25-30, to go to 11-1, 4-1.

"We definitely wanted to make a statement and show that we're strong...," said NFA senior Connor Gralton, who won the 3.1 mile race in 17 minutes, 29.35 seconds, "and show that we're a different team from last year."

Last fall, NFA started strong but faded down the stretch. The Wildcats are determined to not let that happen again in 2015.

They worked hard in the offseason and adjusted their approach and attitude.

"I think it's paid off," Gralton said.

They're on an upward trend. They finished third in the championship division at the Wickham Park Invitational Saturday in Manchester.

Then they shook off fatigue to dominate Tuesday's race. Short-handed Ledyard competed without Aaron Norcia, one of its best runners.

Woodstock set the early pace, surprising the rest of the field, before Gralton and his fellow Wildcats took charge.

Once in front, Gralton kept checking on his teammates.

"I was mostly focused on throughout the race on looking back at my team... to make sure they were doing their job...," Gralton said. "They did the right thing. They rode the right strategy and did well."

NFA teammates Brandon Mehlinger (17:35.9) and Tyler Sholes (17:46.7) finished second and third, respectively. After Ledyard's Christian Kuss (17:53.9) crossed the line, NFA's Luke Shea (17:54.3) took fifth. Ledyard's Jacob Money came in sixth (18:10.4) and NFA's Vincent Huang (18:16.2) seventh.

For the most part, the Wildcats followed coach Chad Johnson's game plan.

"Coming off of Wickham, these guys are still tired and sore," Johnson said. "It's a humid day and it's an uneven course. It turned today into more of a strength-type day. ... Today is about being tough and they were tough, and that's nice. It's a big part of what they need to be."

The next time the two ECC Large rivals meet will be at the conference championship meet on Oct. 22 at Norwich Golf Course.

"We have a gap on them right now," Johnson said. "We'd have to have a bad day for them to get us."

Ledyard will have some time to heal from a few injuries before the ECC meet. With Norcia leading the way, the Colonels expect to turn in a better performance than they did on Tuesday.

"I would have liked to be closer to NFA," Ledyard coach Bill Billing said. "They ran really well. ... We're a little banged up. I was happy with how the guys ran."

In the girls' race, NFA tightened its grip on first place and extended its unbeaten record to 9-0 overall, 5-0 in the division, with wins over Woodstock, 25-30, and Ledyard, 23-36.

Depth was the difference, as the Wildcats took fourth (Lindsay Sylvia, 22:24.9), fifth (Breanna Cubilla, 22:34.5), seventh (Sydney Corl, 22:49.2), eighth (Sydney Kupis, 22:55.4) and ninth (Sarah Burns, 22:51.6). Megan Brawner placed second for the Colonels (5-5, 1-4), who lost to the Centaurs, 22-35.

Woodstock's Sylvia Lawrence won the 3.1 mile race in 20:36.3.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe