Greenwich Academy’s Maddy Lee wins FAA cross country championship race; Sacred Heart’s Ava Lillis places second; GA claims FAA team title at Sherwood Island

By David Fierro on November 2, 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

Contributed photo: Greenwich Academy’s won the FAA team title at the FAA Cross Country Championships held on Monday, November 1, 2021, at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport.

Winners of the FAA regular season title, the Greenwich Academy cross country team’s season got even better on Monday.

Greenwich Academy earned the team championship at the FAA Cross Country Championships at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, posting a team score of 39 points. Sacred Heart Greenwich also excelled at the championship meet, placing second in the team standings (64), followed by Hopkins School (77) in the 11-team meet.

GA was sparked once again by Maddy Lee. A sophomore, Lee won the 3.1-mile race at Monday’s meet with a time of 19:49.1. Ava Lillis, a sophomore, earned a second-place finish for Sacred Heart, crossing the finish line in 20:21.1.

Ava Butz, a Greenwich Academy senior co-captain, placed third overall in the race, clocking in at 20:21.8, a personal-best time. Grace Horton of Greens Farms Academy (20:40.3) and Isabel Slippen from Rye Country Day School (20:59.2), rounded out the top-five finishers.

Greenwich Academy sophomore Grace Sullivan was seventh in 21:13.1 and very close behind her was Sacred Heart freshman Maggie Finn (21:13.4, eighth place).

Contributed photo: Greenwich Academy’s Maddy Lee, left and Ava Butz, finished first and third, respectively at the FAA Cross Country Championships at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport on Nov. 1, 2021.

Emily Goodman, a junior, had a 13-place finish (22:04.7), while GA teammate Emily Greenhaw, a senior co-captain was 15th (22:08.2). Junior Anne Finn of Sacred Heart finished the race in 22:19, good for a 16-place showing.

Sacred Heart’s Audrey Ebeling finished 18th (22:36.9, a junior) and Greenwich Academy sophomore Katie McIntyre was 19th (22:45.9). Olivia Berkery (senior, 22:49.0), Katherine May (junior, 23:29.9) and Jacquelyn Monahan 23:47.9 were 30th and 34th, respectively for Sacred Heart.

Contributed photo: Sacred Heart Greenwich gathers after excelling at the FAA Country Championships at Sherwood Island.

Poppy Huffman placed 23rd for GA with a personal-record time of 23:01.3. Wylie Dell’Olio, a junior, finished 17th for Greenwich Country Day School. Greenwich Country Day also received a 28th-place finish from Ellery Futch (23:20.3).

Contributed photo: Emily Greenhaw, left and Ava Butz are captains of the Greenwich Academy cross country team.

For Greenwich Academy, Lee, Butz and Sullivan earned All-FAA honors, while Goodman and Greenhaw received FAA Honorable Mention recognition. For Sacred Heart, Lillis and Maggie Finn were presented with All-FAA honors, while Anne Finn, Ebeling and Berkery got FAA Honorable Mention accolades.

“The captains, Ava Butz and Emily Greenhaw have done an exemplary job all season long of pushing and motivating the team,” GA coach Jane Finch said. “They knew they could win the league and the championship race and they knew they’d have to work hard for it and the entire team did just that. I am so very proud of them.”