Norwich — Repeating is difficult at this race. No individual boys' runner has won in back-to-back seasons at the Eastern Connecticut Conference cross country championship since Griswold's Tradelle Ward accomplished that feat in 2004-05.

That's why even though East Lyme's Chris Abbey couldn't pull off his second straight win at the event, the Vikings were plenty happy to prepare for Saturday's Class MM state championship race with an overall team victory at Monday's ECC meet, edging second-place Griswold 49-60.

It was East Lyme's third straight team title and the Vikings will attempt to make it three straight state titles, too, Saturday at Wickham Park.

"If we run the way we can, it's going to be close again (at the state meet)," East Lyme coach Sam Harfenist said, recalling his team's two close races with Class MM contender Avon already this season. "Saturday can go any which way. ... One thing you can say about these guys, when it matters, they always come prepared.

"They were ready to run on Thurday (the orginal date of the ECC meet, which was rained out) and we went with the flow. I think they were able to bounce back in the best manner possible to get all psyched up again."

Sophomore Luke Anthony led East Lyme with a runner-up finish, chasing eventual champion Ethan Aspiras of Woodstock Academy to the finish line with Aspiras edging him 17 minutes, 13 seconds to 17:14.

East Lyme's Fisher Macklin was third in 17:26, Abbey eighth in 17:52, Ben Rukundo 11th in 18:10 and Griffith Posgay 25th to round out the scoring for the Vikings, who also captured the ECC Division I crown by finishing unbeaten.

Griswold placed freshmen triplets Lucas (fourth), Michael (fifth) and Jacob Strain (10th) in the top 10, while Waterford's Aidan Pepin was sixth (17:36) and Norwich Free Academy's Peyton Ramsey was seventh (17:49).

"It definitely wasn't a walk in the park, but we came here with a goal and we stuck together," Anthony said. "We came here and we completed it. ... I had it in my mind I was going to give it 100 percent and that's what I did. I tried to stay with (Aspiras) the whole time, which I did. I held him off as much as I could, but he kept coming back."

Anthony was 25th as a freshman in last season's ECC race and Macklin, who came back from an Achilles injury early in the season to fortify the East Lyme lineup throughout the postseason, was 18th.

Harfenist was pleased for their progression, although he admittedly was rooting for Abbey, a senior, to win the race in his final appearance.

"I'm happy for Luke. I'm also happy for Fisher. They were in Chris' limelight (This season). It's good to see them emerge. They succeeded as individuals and as a team," Harfenist said.

Each of East Lyme's top three runners have won dual meets this season — "We're really close, our top three ... our whole varsity squad," Anthony said.

Harfenist said perhaps it's because the ECC meet means so much to every team in the league that it's hard for one runner to repeat. Abbey won the race last year over frontrunner Sam Whittaker, who went on to win the Class MM meet. Abbey has his own explanation.

"There's this little curse here," Abbey said. "You can't win ECC and Class MM ... you have to pick one. (The state meet) is going to be really close. Avon has a fast No. 1, so every point is going to matter. ... These championship races, anything can happen. It's kind of crazy."

Abbey said his legs felt somewhat heavy starting out Monday, but he tried to stay with the front group. He was also pleased for his younger teammates.

"Fisher and Luke were helping each other a lot," said Abbey, who is the team captain. "They were working with each other well. Last year Fisher was injured and he came back and Luke put in a lot of effort in the last year. It's good because I've kind of been struggling this season. I feel it's been more mental at this point. I've just got to get to the front and stay."

Aspiras, meanwhile, 21st a year ago, was hoping for a top-10 finish Monday.

"There's nothing else like it," Aspiras said of his victory. "There's nothing else like a good race. It's so empowering. ... This past summer was the first time I ran every day. That's part of what I'm doing. I'm being more serious."

NFA was third with 86 points, followed by Ledyard (145) and Waterford (171). East Lyme also clinched the Division I title as did Ledyard (Division II), Griswold (Division III) and Plainfield (Division IV). 

v.fulkerson@theday.com

ECC BOYS' CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP

At Norwich Golf Course (5K)

Team Results

1. East Lyme, 49; 2. Griswold, 60; 3. NFA, 86; 4. Ledyard, 145; 5. Waterford, 171; 6. Plainfield, 204; 7. Woodstock Academy, 208; 8. Stonington, 222; 9. Lyman Memorial, 232; 10. Bacon Academy, 245; 11. Fitch, 260; 12. Windham, 330; 13. St. Bernard, 346; 14. Montville 404; 15. Wheeler, 426.

Individual Top 50

1. Ethan Aspiras (WA), 17:13; 2. Luke Anthony (EL), 17:14; 3. Fisher Macklin (EL), 17:26; 4. Lucas Strain (G), 17:32; 5. Michael Strain (G), 17:33; 6. Aidan Pepin (Wat), 17:36; 7. Peyton Ramsey (NFA), 17:49; 8. Chris Abbey (EL), 17:52; 9. Victor Cazabal (Win), 17:56; 10. Jacob Strain (G), 18:05; 11. Fred Rukundo (EL), 18:10; 12. Simon Reichert (L), 18:14; 12. Matthew Speight (P), 18:22; 14. Dylan McGuire (NFA), 18:26; 15. Jeffry Stober (LM), 18:27; 16. Nathan Gonzalez (S), 18:28; 17. Ryan Gruczka (S), 18:29; 18. Garrett Gasparino (G), 18:30; 19. Timothy Jencks (NFA), 18:32; 20; Aidan Croteau (NFA), 18:33; 21. Jack Pothier (P), 18:33; 22. Shane Franson (LM), 18:41; 33. Adam Schumaker (G), 18:55; 24. Hamilton Barnes (W), 18:56; 25. Griffith Posgay (EL), 18:57;

26. Tyler Crabb (NFA), 19:00; 27. Aidan Brown (NFA), 19:15; 28. Ryan Moores (BA), 19:17; 29. Daniel Donovan (L), 19:18; 30. Daniel Robinson (S), 19:19; 31. Noah Krishnaswami (EL), 19:20; 32. Connor Doran (L)), 19:22; 33. Caleb Zane (Wat), 19:22; 34. Christopher Evans (L), 19:23; 35. Digby Ludlow (NFA), 19:24; 36. Rashawn Wright (NL), 19:25; 37. Jackson Collins (G), 19:27; 38. Carson Riley (F), 19:27; 39. Juan Garcia (L)), 19:28; 40. Nicholas Smith (L), 19:28; 41. Connor Wilcox (BA), 19:35; 42. Albert Franck (L), 19:37; 43. Brendan Fant (EL), 19:43; 44. Kristopher Dow (Wat), 19:43; 45. Luke Bartlett (Wat), 19:44; 46. Adam Stewart (Wat), 19:45; 47. Brayden Cutler (T), 19:46; 48. Simon Chidley (F), 19:51; 49. Michael Carroll (Whe), 19:53; 50 Jacob Walton (P), 19:54.