The Williston boys and girls cross-country teams honored the death of a Suffield student who was also a member of the boys cross-country team Saturday. Williston runners tied orange ribbons to their jerseys and wrists to pay tribute to freshman Iheanyichukwu Anyanwu.

According to NBC Connecticut, Anyanwu was participating in a “supervised swim time at the school” when he had to be pulled out of the pool by an instructor who proceeded to perform CPR. On Saturday, September 14 it was reported by that Anyanwu had died in Baystate Medical Center on Friday, two days after being pulled out of the pool.

It was clear that this race was more than just running 3.1 miles.  “When you take the time to honor another school it makes it bigger than a race-bigger than yourselves,” says senior Williston runner Christian Knapp. Suffield runners wore special jerseys in memory of their teammate. The front said, “ Run For Iheany,” and the back bore his last name.

Ron Schildge, Suffield’s boys cross-country coach said, “our team has been very moved by the support we’ve received from other schools. Most importantly, these schools have helped us express our deepest sympathy to Iheany’s family. Our team has gained a lot of strength from knowing that they are part of a caring community that extends beyond our campus.”

Williston’s boys team finished second of three teams in the race on Saturday, pulling off a one point victory over Suffield, 29-30. The third team, NMH, defeated Williston 25-30.  Christian Knapp, running an 18:08 and coming in sixth place overall was Williston’s lead runner. Seniors Sam Duffy and Gabe Hohmann each set new personal records at 18:45 and 19:16 respectively. Junior Milo Cowles set a new best time as well at 19:14. NMH runners placed one, two, and three, with NMH’s lead runner finishing in 16:20. Williston’s varsity runners placed sixth, eighth, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth, twenty-second, and twenty-fourth.

“While we have had many competitive and hard fought games, matches, and meets against Suffield, it’s more important for us to show our compassion and support during this difficult time,” said boys cross-country coach, Christa Talbot-Syfu.

The Williston girls team defeated their one opponent, NMH, for the first time in two years, 24-34. The team had six runners finishing in the top ten. Caroline Sullivan of NMH led the pack, winning the race by over three minutes with a time of 18:51. This is just nine seconds off the girl’s course record set in 2003 of 18:42. All of Williston’s varsity runners finished within the top eleven.

“Honoring Suffield made Saturday less about the race and more about the fact that we had the opportunity to race. It really put things into perspective,” says Knapp.