Manchester — Griswold High School won its first boys’ cross country state championship Saturday since 2007, the year the Wolverines’ won their eighth straight title.

East Lyme, meanwhile, returned to the top of the Class MM ranks after only a year’s absence, winning three straight from 2017-19 before finishing third a year ago (there was no state meet in 2020 due to COVID).

Both teams were equally as jubilant.

“This means so much,” East Lyme sophomore Sean McCauley said. “We worked all season. This season, we did what we had to do just to get the job done. We definitely left it all out there.”

“Coach (Mike Flynn) told us the first half, it was all in your mind,” East Lyme sophomore Matthew Carrier said, describing the appearance of exhaustion from each member of the team as he crossed the finish line. “The last half, it was all your heart.”

Griswold edged Suffield for the Class SS title earlier in the day 56-58, a race in which Eastern Connecticut Conference runners made up five of the top 10.

Griswold triplets Michael (3rd, 17 minutes, 26 seconds), Lucas (8th, 17:43) and Jacob Strain (9th, 17:45) all finished in the top 10, with fellow senior Jackson Collins 15th (18:14) and junior Maxwell Brown 21st (18:37) also scoring. Sophomore Cole Fontaine and freshman Vincent Andreozzi rounded out the varsity.

“Definitely senior year, I’m happy we’re all getting to run together,” Michael Strain said of Friday’s State Open meet back at Wickham Park, which will have the Wolverines in the field. “It kind of feels like two (seasons in my career); we missed a year because of COVID and last year felt like being a freshman all over again.”

“I’m very proud of them, so proud of these guys,” Griswold coach Kelsey Tobler said. “Nice for the seniors to see them finally achieve this. With COVID, it was tough for everybody, but we came back stronger than ever.”

The team totals were so close that they weren’t announced immediately.

“We were waiting, waiting, waiting,” Tobler said. “We did out the score but it wasn’t official. It was a huge relief.”

While Griswold saw four seniors cap their careers with a state championship, East Lyme — which ran the last in Saturday’s series of 12 races on the 3.1-mile course at Wickham Park — won its title with four underclassmen in the top five.

McCauley led the way in third for the Vikings in 16:39, with senior Brendan Fant seventh in 16:51. Nathan Bergman, a junior, was 19th, Carrier 23rd and sophomore Jilali Benjdid 26th. Junior Kai Ritz was 27th and senior Ted Bergman 46th.

Flynn said that when people asked him about last year’s East Lyme team, he would tell them the Vikings were a year away. On Saturday, after a year-long wait, he directed them to be patient.

“At 600 meters, when you come out (of the woods), you’ve got to give everything in the tank,” Flynn said. “I told them ‘At least once a week for the last 52 weeks, you’ve talked about this meet.’ We started training a year ago. They understood they’re all getting there at the right time.”

It was the first time this season that McCauley overtook Fant, the senior. He credited Fant with making it possible, however.

“He was my drive to catch up to the top 3,” McCauley said. “I put my eyes on him and locked on his back. ... He’s a huge leader. He gives a great speech before every race. He’s a huge part of this team and pulls us all together.”

The top two teams and the 12 fastest runners from each division qualified for the State Open meet, along with the next eight teams and 30 runners with the fastest times.

Stonington’s Ryan Gruczka, the recent ECC champion, was second in Class SS in 16:41, teaming with Griswold’s Strain brothers and Montville’s Dylan Horkey (6th, 17:37) to give the ECC a decided presence in the top 10 of that race.

Bacon Academy’s Ryan Moores was third in Class M in 16:58 and Ledyard’s Hayden Baber 11th in 17:28. Wheeler’s Ethan Sweet was 10th in Class S in 17:39 and Old Lyme fourth as a team with 182 points.

Ridgefield’s Steven Hergenrother, the Class LL champion, had the top time of the day at 15:53, while McCauley had the top local boys’ time in 16:39.

v.fulkerson@theday.com