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10/05/2015 12:00 AMIn its lone home date for the dual-meet season, the Guilford boys’ cross country squad made a statement and showed it’s serious about regaining a division title and finishing toward the top in the conference championship chase.
Guilford has claimed ownership to nine of the 11 SCC Hammonasset Division championship banners since the division came to be in 2004, although Foran ended the Indians’ run of six-consecutive crowns last fall. Led by first-year Head Coach Jon Rivera, a determined Guilford has paced itself to a five-win opening to the regular season with its only loss coming to unbeaten Amity. The Indians continued their fast start with a 21-34 decision over Xavier on Sept. 29 at Baldwin Middle School—a signature victory in the eyes of Rivera.
“We had a good meet versus a really good opponent. There hasn’t been too many times that we’ve beaten Xavier, so I think we kind of caught them off-guard,” said Rivera, whose squad is 6-1. “The middle school course is challenging because it has a lot of hills versus the ones like Hammonasset [Beach State Park] and some of the high school ones, which are flat. Yet they handled the course well and made the most of the home meet.”
Keeping the pace for the Indians against the Falcons (4-3), senior co-captain Ben Siciliano (16:59), plus juniors Finn Davidson (17:38) and Josh Stern (17:46), helped Guilford maintain a stronghold on the top three slots for the race. Rounding out Guilford’s finishers were senior co-captain Lukas O’Callahan in sixth (18:09), senior Adam Germaine for ninth (18:22), and 16th-place sophomore Will Smith (18:31).
“We have a good core group of guys. They started hard with summer training and come hard and ready to work,” Rivera said. “They know what it takes to succeed and, hopefully, we will do things at the end of the year.”
The seniors have also helped pave the way for the Indians out of the gate as, in their previous three campaigns, they have seen the finish line, the gold at the end of it, and what it takes to reach that pinnacle.
“Some of our seniors, like Ben, have had the taste of it in a state title by winning it in 2012 and coming up a point shy for 2013 of winning it again and he sets a great example for everyone else,” said Rivera, who has additional senior leadership on the squad from PJ Malafronte. “Lukas is also great, too, with getting the guys ready. Having a team with strong seniors like them is a huge bonus because they have an understanding in what we are working for.”
Not to be outdone, the underclass is also paying big dividends behind Davidson and Stern, along with sophomores in first-year athlete Ian Sessions, plus Rhys Kalama. Rivera explained that the Indians are still waiting on the return of another key runner, yet he maintains confidence with his starting five now in midseason form.
“Finn and Josh have been running well. Will has had a solid season, plus Ian is starting to come into his own, along with Rhys,” Rivera said. “We hope to get [sophomore] Brendan O’Callahan back as he’s dealing with some knee trouble, but he’s working his way back and getting close. Our top five, I think, is set, and we will have a much better shot in states. If they stay healthy, they give us a chance.”
When it comes to climbing the postseason ladder, the Indians are taking it one rung at a time, starting with reclaiming the Hammonasset, after which they will set themselves up for some lofty positioning on both the conference and state stages.
“We take it one goal at a time. We want to win back the division first. We’ve been able to win it most years, but last year was frustrating and left a bad taste in their mouths,” said Rivera. “We always have a big meet with the SCC Championship because, in some aspects, it’s more difficult than the state meet with all of the great teams in there. We hope to finish in the top three for SCCs and we think we can also make a strong run at states.”
• The Indians currently hold a SCC Hammonasset Division record of 2-0.
• Guilford was previously defeated by Amity and owns additional victories over Law, Sheehan, Hillhouse, Branford, and East Haven on the dual-meet season.
• After the Wickham Invitational at Wickham Park on Saturday, Oct. 10, the Indians have a road meet at Eisenhower Park in Milford on Friday, Oct. 16 that will decide the Hammonasset Division winner against Hand and host Foran. Guilford then looks to the SCC Championship on Thursday, Oct. 22 at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison.