Norwich — East Lyme coach Mike Flynn referred to his team as the underdog going into Thursday’s Eastern Connecticut Conference girls’ cross country championship and that very much unnerved the coach of the team Flynn referred to as the favorite.

“I found that a little nervewracking,” Ledyard coach Denise Descheneaux said. “I found that everybody expecting us to win was a little, like, ‘OK, don’t jinx it.’

“But at the same time, the numbers, we were looking at the strongest team coming in, but everybody’s got to have a good day.”

Ledyard used its experience to capture the ECC championship at Norwich Golf Course, finishing with 71 points to dethrone six-time champion East Lyme (100). The Colonels placed three runners in the top 10 to win the overall ECC title for the first time since 1989.

The individual champion, meanwhile, Lyman Memorial sophomore Hazel DeLucia, finished the 5K course in 20 minutes, 8 seconds, the fastest time for an ECC champ since Norwich Free Academy’s Brianna Lenehan in 2012 (19:39).

DeLucia is the daughter of former NFA great Stephanie Johnson DeLucia, who was part of a Wildcats team in 1995 which became the first in Connecticut history to win the New England title.

Defending champ Avery Maiese of Waterford was second (21:00) and Stonington’s Peyton Vanderstreet third (21:14), followed by Waterford’s Elle Dibuono (21:21) and Woodstock Academy’s Julia Coyle (21:22).

Ella Stephenson (6th, 21:32), Kate Littler (9th, 21:43) and Josie Withbroe (10th, 21:55) finished in the top 10 for Ledyard, which was second to East Lyme a year ago and graduated no one.

“It felt really good to see our goal come true because it’s been something that we kind of talked about since last season when we got second,” Stephenson said. “It’s just that working together as a team over the season to reach our goal was really cool and for it to finally happen today was good.

“We definitely did not come in like, ‘Oh, this is going to be easy,’ because it definitely wasn’t. We had to work for it, for sure.”

Flynn saw Ledyard finish second in the Varsity 2 race at the Ocean State Invitational on Sept. 23, with his team sixth in that same race. He joked earlier this season that Ledyard even fared well in a lip-sync competition this summer at running camp.

“We’re happy to pass the crown to them because those girls are great. They’re super nice girls. Denise is awesome. They’re well-coached,” Flynn said of Ledyard.

“We talked about it as a team (before the race). The unfortunate truth of sports is at some point the streaks are broken and I was like, in those moments it’s important that we support each other. But you’re also going up against a very good team. So run freely and go after it, but you are going against a very good team. We held on to it as long as we could.”

DeLucia was fifth last year in 21:14, a season in which she struggled with anemia. She got healthy over the summer, she said, and began conquering hills.

She crossed the finish line Thursday with her mom Stephanie (the 1992 Class LL champion) and uncle Chad Johnson (the former State Open champion) waiting for her along with the rest of her family, including her grandfather Lee, who got her started competing in fun runs at a young age.

“I did so many hills this summer simply just to prepare for this race,” DeLucia said. “Long hills, short hills, I needed to be ready because this hill ate me up last year. I wanted to be ready for that this year.”

DeLucia said Stephanie is in her phone contacts as “Coach Mom” and credits her for being an inspiration.

“My mom was one of the most amazing runners I’ve even known,” said DeLucia, who will compete in the Class S state championship next Saturday at Wickham Park. “I’m so lucky that she’s my mom. I thank her every day for all the advice she gives me.

“I was sick last year. To prove to myself that I could do this, it felt really, really good. I ran my race, that’s all I can say. I ran the race I knew I could do.”

St. Bernard’s Helena Coury (7th, 21:37) and NFA’s Karina Chan (8th, 21:41) rounded out the top 10. Lyman was third in the overall team standings (111), Waterford fourth (117) and NFA fifth (120).

East Lyme wrapped up the ECC Division I title, Ledyard Division II, Lyman Division III and Wheeler Division IV, all with unbeaten league records.

v.fulkerson@theday.com

2023 ECC Girls’ Cross Country Championships

At Norwich Golf Course (5k)

Team Results

1. Ledyard, 71; 2. East Lyme, 100; 3. Lyman Memorial, 111; 4. Waterford, 117; 5. NFA, 120; 6. Bacon Academy, 140; 7. St. Bernard, 171; 8. Stonington, 187; 9. Woodstock, 194; 10. Wheeler, 241; 11. Fitch, 255; 12. Killingly, 277.

Individual Top 50

1. Hazel DeLucia (Lyman), 20:08; 2. Avery Maiese (Waterford), 21:00; 3. Peyton Vanderstreet (Stonington), 21:14; 4. Elle DiBuono (Waterford), 21:21; 5. Julia Coyle (Woodstock), 21:22; 6. Ella Stephenson (Ledyard), 21:32; 7. Helena Coury (St. Bernard), 21:37; 8. Karina Chan (NFA), 21:41; 9. Kate Littler (Ledyard), 21:55; 10. Josephine Withbroe (Ledyard), 21:55; 11. Ryley Hubert (Griswold), 22:03; 12. Helen Muench (NFA), 22:06; 13. Molly Musselman (Stonington), 22:19; 14. Maya D’Aquila (East Lyme), 22:24; 15. Paige Brayman (NFA), 22:24; 16. Mia Klewin (St. Bernard), 22:23; 17. Sylvie Hiltz (Lyman), 22:42. 18. Rachel Quadrato (East Lyme), 22:44; 19. Ava Lee (Waterford), 22:53; 20. Lauren Fulcher (East Lyme), 22:54; 21. Olivia Tracy (Woodstock), 22:55; 22; Avery Anderson (Bacon), 22:59; 23. Avery Widlicka (Ledyard), 23:06; 24. Aranza Torres (East Lyme), 23:12; 25. Tatianna Irizarry (Ledyard), 23:20;

26. Olivia Crane-Benjamin (New London), 23:20; 27. Lorelei Romasanta (Bacon), 23:21; 28. Samantha Doran (Ledyard), 23:21; 29. Melinda McKenzie (Bacon), 23:22; 30. Allison Caskey (East Lyme), 23:29; 31. Kayla Osga (Lyman), 23:31; 32. Izzy Paggioli (East Lyme), 23:46; 33. Sophie Zichichi (Wheeler), 23:50; 34. Luci Gardella (Lyman), 24:05; 35. Sage Gressly (Montville), 24:38; 36. Genevieve Gardella (Lyman), 24:38; 37. Carissa Browne (Wheeler), 24:39; 38. Meadow Brown (NFA), 24:50; 39. Emma Cote (Bacon), 24:58; 40. Fionna Woody (Ledyard), 25:06; 41. Adeline Steinhaus (Waterford), 25:08; 42. Kylie Melia (Wheeler), 25:18; 43. Taryn Gray (Bacon), 25:22; 44. Peyton Rosen (Killingly), 25:25; 45. Alaiana Campbell (Fitch), 25:27; 46. Hannah Thomas (Fitch), 25:27; 47. Avery Schaefer (Woodstock), 25:30; 48. Colbie Synhorst (Fitch), 25:31; 49. Melody Hutchinson (Killingly), 25:33; 50. Emerson Joly (Killingly), 25:38.