Chase Gilbert was speaking earlier this season about the course where the Shoreline Conference cross country championships are run: Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison.
“I love my conference course,” said Gilbert, a junior at Old Lyme High School, who ran the state’s fastest time of the season — 17 minutes, 6.5 seconds — in winning last year’s Shoreline meet. “The thing about flat courses people don’t talk about enough is that ripping a flat course is really painful, consistently pounding out a constant pace. … I love that pace.”
This year, Gilbert ran even faster, winning her third straight Shoreline girls’ title Thursday in 16:32 — although Gilbert notes the course was shortened this year to an even three miles — beating her nearest competitor by nearly two minutes. East Hampton’s Jocelyn Gustavson was second in 18:29.6…