Darien Scores and Standings, Sept. 14

UPDATES

• Boys cross country: The Darien boys cross earned its first victory of the season, decisively winning its first dual meet at Trumbull on Tuesday.The Blue Wave defeated the Eagles (16-45) and Bassick (16-50) to improve to 2-0.

In cross country, the low score wins the meet.  Scores are determined by adding the top five individual finishing places on each team.  Points are awarded to the individual runners of each participating team, equal to the position in which they cross the finish line (e.g., first place gets one point, second place gets two points, etc.). Runners six and seven can displace the top five on another team.

Winning the varsity race in 16:09 was a ‘pack’ of four Darien runners: co-captains Charlie Baird, Michael Coe and Michael Johnston and Alex Ostberg. Marshall Huffman finished sixth overall and fifth for the Blue Wave in 16:29.

Also scoring points for Darien were Peter Kreuch and Brian Davey, who finished eighth and ninth, crossing the line in 16:48 and 16:52 respectively.  Co-captain Eli Converse  finished 10th in 16:59.

“It was a nice to start to the season, but we have work to do," DHS head coach Tyson Kaczmarek said.

"We had a very promising first meet,” Converse added.  “We executed our strategy well and the guys really stepped up.”

Girls volleyball: The Darien girls volleyball team begins it quest for another state championship on Wednesday when the Blue Wave host Stamford in their season opener (4 p.m.).

Last season, Darien was swept by East Lyme in the CIAC Class L finals, ending its nine-year reign as state champions.

Darien has five seniors: Nina Preston, Lexy Asburne, and captains Charlett Stevenson, Katie Stueber, and Ammanda Sommi. 

Laurie LaRusso is beginning her 29th season as Darien's coach, having won 19 FCIAC and 15 state titles. She boasts a career record of 560-80.

Last year's defeat to East Lyme was only Darien's fourth loss in the last 10 years.

• Football: Darien, which begins defense of its first FCIAC championship since 1998 on Saturday against Fairfield Ludlowe (1:30 p.m.), is ranked 19th in the Connecticut Sportswriters' Alliance preseason poll.

Three FCIAC teams are in the top 10: No. 3 New Canaan, No. 6 Trumbull, and No. 7 Staples, while St. Joseph (61), Darien (40), Greenwich (32), Stamford (11), Fairfield-Warde (2) and Ridgefield (1) also received votes.

Xavier of Middletown, which ended last season ranked No. 1 in the state, tops the poll with 344 points — just one point better than Masuk, which ended New Canaan's four-year state title reign in last season's CIAC Class L championship game. Xavier defeated Trumbull in the Class LL finals.

Masuk will again be led by UConn-bound quarterback Casey Cochran.  Xavier and Masuk split the 30 first-place votes.

Rounding out the top 10 are No. 4 Hillhouse, No. 5 Ansonia, No. 8 New London, No. 9 Hand and No. 10 Cheshire.

TUESDAY'S RESULTS

• Girls soccer: Darien 1, Trumbull 1 — Marieke Bravo scored in the first half for the Blue Wave.
• Boys cross country: Darien 16, Trumbull 43; Darien 15, Bassick 50 — Darien's Michael Johnston (16:09), Charlie Baird (16:09), Alec Ostberg (16:10), and Michael Coe (16:109) had the four fastest times.
• Girls cross country: Darien 16, Trumbull 47; Darien 15, Bassick 50

WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE

• Boys soccer: Darien at Westhill, 4:30 p.m.
• Girls volleyball: Stamford at Darien, 4 p.m.
• Girls swimming: Fairfield Warde at Darien, 3 p.m. (Darien YMCA) 

THURSDAY'S SCHEDULE

• Girls soccer: Danbury at Darien, 4 p.m.

STANDINGS

Football

Bassick

Boys soccer

Girls soccer

Fairfield Warde

The Daily Sports Digest is designed for you to add your best photo and/or video to share (instructions here). If you see anything in our scores, standings, or schedules that requires updating, please e-mail regional editor Michael Dinan at michaeld+sports@patch.com.