WATERTOWN - Thomaston may have saved its best for last.
As speculation ran rampant on social media that Nonnewaug and Lakeview want to leave the conference and the other six schools may need to find a new home, the Berkshire League held its cross country championships Thursday at Black Rock State Park with everyone cognizant this was possibly the BL's final meet.
Perhaps fittingly, Thomaston, the lone remaining original member, dominated the day by capturing three of the four big prizes: the boys and girls individual titles and the boys team championship.
"I heard yesterday. I was, like, I might be the last BL champion. That's pretty crazy," said Thomaston senior Beau Kociszewski, who won his first BL title in a time of 17:19.06. "Honestly, it's sad at the same time. The BL is a nice league. We have a lot of good kids in this league."
"If it is our last one, it's a great way to finish," said Thomaston coach Mark Olsen, who watched senior Briana Belanger win her third girls title in 19:37.44 and his boys team capture its fifth straight crown and the 11th of his 33-year tenure.
"Hopefully, it's not the last," said Shepaug coach John Spear, whose girls repeated as BL champions by taking five of the top 10 places.
For Kociszewski and Belanger, the day was about rejuvenation. Both were struggling a year ago with injuries.
Kociszewski had an IT band issue and finished fourth as a junior. He said medicine has helped him to recover, allowing him to outpace two runners who finished ahead of him last season.
One of those who beat him in 2025 was his teammate, Thomaston senior Braden Walker, who was third Thursday. The two of them work together in races to grind the field into the ground, even when their preference is not to take the lead.
"Obviously, everybody wants to run a tactical race, so me and (Walker) took it out for the first mile and made it hard on everybody else and then started pulling away," Kociszewski said.
Shepaug's Liam Riendeau overtook Walker down the stretch to take second in 17:33.06, with Walker only two seconds behind. Nonnewaug's Luke Lodice, who also beat Kociszewski in 2025, took fourth in 17:47.47.
"Beau's the hardest-working kid on the team. He deserved to win," Olsen said. "When you have the talent he has, it was his race to lose. Braden and Liam are really good runners. Beau ran a really smart race and stayed relaxed. Sometimes he doesn't stay relaxed, but he did a great job today."
Not only that, but Kociszewski is a nice kid, too, according to his coach.
"When I leave town, he watches my dogs," Olsen noted. "I don't trust just anyone with my dogs."
Belanger won the BL girls title as a freshman and a sophomore, then sat out as a junior with a stress fracture in her hip. She ran most of Thursday's race alongside Shepaug junior Lily Casini before pulling away with a kick over the final 800 meters that her pursuer couldn't match.
"It's really emotional," Belanger said. "I wasn't sure I could do it. I didn't know if I could pull it off. I thought once I had my injury that I was kind of behind everyone, so to pull this off a year later is really amazing."
"Her kick is definitely the winning factor for her," said Casini, who finished in 20:20.93. "I'll be running with her and then she'll speed up like 20 seconds (per mile). She's amazing."
Last year's winner, Lakeview's Lily Markavich, was third in 20:33.69. Belanger is the second Thomaston girl to win three BL titles, joining Maegan Desmarais (2018-20).
"The plan was to run with whoever was in front, Lily or Lily, and take off at the bridge," Olsen said. "But Briana took off 300 meters before that like a cannon. In the last mile, she won by 45 seconds. It was crazy."
There were no surprises in the team competitions. Thomaston's boys captured six of the top 10 places, which enabled the Golden Bears to easily outscore runner-up Lakeview, 26-65.
"We're the smallest school around," Olsen marveled. "We get who we get and try to get the best out of them. It is an attitude. They just come to practice and they don't mess around. Well, they do mess around, but they get their business done. There is an expectation of doing well."
Ditto for the Shepaug girls, who easily outpointed Nonnewaug, 30-66. In his 11th year, Spear has coached three BL champions. In 2018, the Spartans ended a 32-year BL title drought. Now, they have won three in eight seasons.
"We have a strong middle school program with coaches who are pushing them and figuring out who's not playing soccer, who's not playing field hockey, (and saying) ‘Get a pair of running shoes and come out for cross country,'" Spear said. "It builds into our program. I try to find those girls in high school, too."
And a word of warning for opponents next year: The Spartans, who have won 15 straight dual meets, have only one senior among their top seven.
Berkshire League championships
Boys
All-BL team: 1. Beau Kociszewski (Th) 17:19.06; 2. Liam Riendeau (S) 17:33.06; 3. Braden Walker (Th) 17:35.08; 4. Luke Lodice (Non) 17:47.47; 5. Zach Dunbar (L) 17:52.07; 6. Matthew Johnson (Th) 18:13.03; 7. Ted Valero (Th) 18:16.83; 8. Nathan Fisher (S) 18:24.00; 9. Jacob Lee (Th) 18:28.83.
Girls
Team results: Shepaug 30, Nonnewaug 66, Lakeview 76, Thomaston 79, Housatonic 114.
All-BL team: 1. Briana Belanger (Th) 19:37.44; 2. Lily Casini (S) 20:20.93; 3. Lily Markavich (L) 20:33.69; 4. Adriana Rocco (Th) 20:42.94; 5. Natalie Orletski (S) 21:31.43; 6. Molly Sedito (S) 21:39.84; 7. Vienna Carew (S) 21:44.20; 8. Valerie Chandler (Non) 22:26.70; 9. Ava DiBella-Mills (L) 22:55.44.
Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.
This article originally published at Thomaston, Shepaug claim BL cross country titles; Kociszewski, Belanger win individual crowns.