E.O. Smith's Gabriel White builds postseason momentum with big Wickham win

E.O. Smith senior cross country runner Gabriel White was coming off his fastest time of the season entering this past weekend’s 43rd Wickham Park XC Invitational.

White ran 15:55.6 at the Great American XC Festival in Cary, N.C., on Oct. 3. He finished 71st, but was running in the Race of Champions, where the fastest time was a scintillating 14:35.9 by Marcelo Mantecon of Belen Jesuit Prep of Miami, Fla. In terms of Connecticut, White’s time was the seventh-fastest of the season.

On Saturday, White jumped out to an early lead in the Boys Medium Division race at Wickham and never looked back. He won in a time of 16:10.2, nearly 22 seconds ahead of Ellington junior Alexander Bianchi (16:32).

“It was a little shocking at first, but honestly, I’ve raced alone plenty of times,” White said afterward. “I don’t take it as an excuse. I try my absolute hardest, and I’m very good at pushing myself.”

White started his season with a first-place finish (16:47) against Glastonbury and RHAM at Mansfield Hollow State Park on Sept. 8. He won again Sept. 15 in 17:05 at a CCC meet against Enfield and host Tolland.

White took on a strong field at the Manchester (N.H.) Invitational on Sept. 19 at Derryfield Park and finished 13th in 16:40.9. His time was faster than that of Wickham Large Division winner Patrick Noonan of Lexington, Mass., who finished 14th at Manchester in 16:43.3.

Next up for White was the Great American Festival, which also saw Connecticut runners from Greenwich, New Canaan, Staples and Xavier compete in the various races. In the Race of Champions, only Xavier’s Holden Hines, Quentin Koch and Nolan O’Connor finished ahead of White among the Connecticut runners.

“He has been such a competitive runner because he consistently puts forth sincere effort. It’s not just the motivation to work hard at certain times, he is disciplined to get out there and train well in every practice,” E.O. Smith coach Greg Tutolo said in an email. “I think his success in his track season has really given him a lot of confidence. That’s put him in a very good place.”

During the spring, White was a strong distance runner for E.O. Smith’s outdoor track and field team. He competed at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field with teammates Max Mattingly, Alex Cook and Jason Cao. They ran the 4xMile relay and finished 18th in the country. Mattingly is a senior teammate of White’s on this fall’s cross country team.

When White won at Wickham on Saturday, it only helped his confidence grow.

“I always try to keep very high confidence. This is especially a booster, knowing how fast I can run, and it’s just a great starting place for where I want to go in my postseason,” White said about his win.

White expects a lot of himself, and also his teammates.

“Gabe is a strong leader on the team. He communicates team expectations clearly with other athletes on the team,” Tutolo said. “He always approaches challenging races/workouts with a positive mindset.”

White will be training hard for the Central Connecticut Conference championships, which are back at Wickham Park on Oct. 20.

“The CCC meet will have great runners for him to compete with,” Tutolo said. “He will need to maintain his confidence and hard work to continue to do well in the CCC and States.”

White, who is interested in running in college and has schools who are interested in him, wants to just keep getting better.

“I just want to keep training my hardest to keep improving like I have been, and I just want to be able to race with the hardest guys and be able to perform at the level that I know I can,” White said.

White told MySportsResults reporter Marty Ogden on Saturday that he wants to win the CCC title. Tutolo loves that attitude and wants to see more of it.

“He really is capable of amazing things,” Tutolo said. “I don’t want to put out any expectations, but he can do more than he knows. I’d like to see him surpass his own expectations.”

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This article originally published at E.O. Smith’s Gabriel White builds postseason momentum with big Wickham win.