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North Haven Hits the Trails for SCC Meet

The athletes in the North Haven cross country program got their opportunity to compete among some of the best runners in the area last week. On Nov. 4, members of North Haven’s boys’ and girls’ cross country teams hit the pathways to take part in the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) Divisional Championship meets at East Shore Park in New Haven.

The SCC held four divisional meets (A, B, C, and D) for the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams in the conference. Both of North Haven’s teams competed in the Division A meets. The boys’ team finished in third place in its division, while the girls’ squad posted a fourth-place finish in Division A.

In lieu of a proper Conference Championship, the performances from the divisional meets were merged together to tabulate the team standings for the SCC Championship, which had originally been scheduled to take place on Nov. 10. When those numbers were crunched, the North Haven boys’ team came in 15th place in the SCC standings with the girls’ team finishing in 16th place.

“This year has been definitely unconventional,” Assistant Coach Nancy Schreiber said. “In the divisional meet, on both sides, our teams were composed of veteran runners, as well as freshmen and first-year runners. Our returnees gave solid performances, and our new runners did very well for their first time being in a big meet.”

Senior captain Nick Howlett put forth the top showing for the North Haven boys’ cross country team at last week’s SCC meet. Sophomore Payton Orosco turned in the top performance on behalf of the girls’ team.

Howlett crossed the finish line with a time of 18 minutes and 56 seconds for the boys’ 5K race. By virtue of his time, Howlett came in 17th place among the 31 runners who competed at the SCC Division A Championship. Howlett’s time of 18:56 also put him in 55th place out of 150 athletes for the SCC Championship.

“Nick was very happy with his placement as it was an improvement from where he finished last year,” said Schreiber.

Junior Aaron Barbiero ran a time of 20:05 for North Haven at the event. Barbiero finished in 22nd place for the divisional meet and came in 86th place for the conference standings.

Senior captain Tiernan Neville clocked in with a time of 20:19 to take 23rd place at the SCC Division A meet. Neville also finished in 96th place in the SCC Championship.

Freshman AJ Signore, senior Cameron Cargan, and freshman Cody Molyreaux rounded out the pack for the North Haven boys at the SCC meet. Signore finished 28th in the division and 146th in the conference with his time of 25:37. Cargan also posted a time of 25:37 to finish 29th in the division standings and 147th in the conference. Molyreaux ran a time of 25:46 to finish in 30th place for the SCC Division A Championship and 148th in the SCC Championship.

In terms of the girls’ meet, Orosco recorded North Haven’s top showing at the SCC competition by running a time of 24 minutes and 15 minutes for the 5K event. Orosco finished in 15th place out of the 33 runners who competed in the SCC Division A championship as a result of her performance. Orosco’s mark of 24:15 was also good for 58th place in the SCC Championship rankings.

“Payton was the first girl to finish for North Haven, and she placed 58th out of 137 runners—another strong showing for her this season,” Coach Schreiber said.

Sophomore Carina Esposito was next in line for North Haven at the SCC event. Esposito ran a time of 28:02 to take 22nd place in the Division A meet and finish 111th for the SCC overall.

Senior captain Taya Stanley timed in with a mark of 29:30 for the girls’ team. Stanley finished 26th in the division and 127th for the conference with this time. Freshman Jade Lewis recorded a time of 29:39 to finish 27th in Division A and 128th in the conference.

Freshman Amelia Shaw and junior Gianna Mele also competed for North Haven at the meet. Shaw finished 31st in the divisional championship and 135th for the conference with a time of 32:27. Mele ran a time of 32:35 take 32nd in the Division A standings and 136th in the SCC standings.

Guilford took the overall SCC title on the girls’ side after finishing first in the Division A meet. Amity (B), Sacred Heart Academy (C), and Hamden (D) were other divisional winners in the girls’ competition.

Xavier finished first overall among the boys’ teams in the SCC following its victory in the Division D meet. Guilford (A), Shelton (B), and West Haven (C) also placed first in their respective divisional meets.