Guilford Boys’ Cross Country Grabs First State Title in Three Years
Although the senior roster is a little thin for Guilford boys’ cross country this fall, the team still features plenty of postseason experience and it paved the path to a first-place finish at the Class MM State Championship on Oct. 31.
The Indians, whose seniors were part of a state title as freshmen three years ago, traveled to Wickham Park to take part in last week’s Class MM meet. All four members of the Indians’ senior class hit the trails to help them take home their first state crown since 2012 and the eighth in program history by tallying 70 points to handily outdistance runner-up E.O. Smith, which had 107. One of those seniors, co-captain Ben Siciliano, led the pack by coming in third overall at 16:22—only five seconds off the winning pace set by East Lyme’s Vann Moffett.
“This was really awesome. Winning my freshman year was easily one of the best experiences I’ve had,” said Siciliano. “Winning as a team was one of the best feelings and, for the past couple of years, I feel as if I have been just chasing that feeling and I finally felt it again and it was amazing.”
Not far behind Siciliano were teammates in junior Finn Davidson, who finished ninth with a time of 17:11; plus junior Joshua Stern, who was 11th by clocking in at 17:23. Rounding out the pack for Guilford were senior co-captain Lukas O’Callahan for 23rd (18:03), fellow senior Adam Germaine in 24th at 18:08, sophomore Will Smith in 69th place (19:13), and senior PJ Malafronte, who was 116th at 20:12. Guilford also captured the best total team time with its collective mark of 1 hour, 27 minutes, and 7 seconds.
“Without a doubt, our team is defined by dedication and hard work demonstrated by each runner. Last year, we were a young and inexperienced group with most members new to the high-stakes nature of varsity racing,” said O’Callahan. “In addition to running daily, my teammates and I also sacrificed their summer free time to attend cross country training sessions. We’ve each put in all the work to be where we are now and I couldn’t be more proud of the young men I call my teammates.”
Longtime assistant coach Jonathan Rivera took the reins as Guilford’s head man in 2015. He explained that a solid effort on the course from top to bottom carried his Indians to the pinnacle of the state.
“To win this state title is really special. They’ve all worked hard all summer and season long. We saw E.O. Smith as our top competition coming in, but you never know how these races will play out. Yet as things unfolded, we stayed in position, didn’t let up, and each one of our runners did their job,” said Rivera. “Lukas and Adam really came up big today. Lukas has been a great leader all year, really adding a lot to the core and conditioning aspects of the team. And Adam Germaine was the key piece to our win today. Everything relied on him and Lukas and he came up with the best performance of the group.”
The Indians had the ultimate weapon on their side this fall by housing some savvy veterans who guided the program’s younger runners. With two underclassmen who nearly made All-State still in the mix for next season, things certainly bode well for Guilford going forward.
“The senior leadership on this team is huge. Ben has had a taste of being a state champion prior, but really all-around, the senior leadership was big,” Rivera said. “We are kind of a veteran team, but they were great leaders in helping everyone stay on task. Will Smith was our sixth man this year from start to finish and he is on the verge of improving, plus we have some up-and-coming freshmen that are strong, too. We also had Finn and Joshua land just on the cusp of being All-State, so that is motivation.”
Rivera’s Indians will be looking to make noise against some of Connecticut’s larger programs when they compete at the State Open at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6. Regardless of where Guilford finishes, it will certainly not put a damper on what’s been a season for the ages.
“We will take time to digest this win and then look at some of the other teams. Class LL is loaded, but one of our goals is to break the top 10, which would be a nice accomplishment for a smaller school,” said Rivera. “This year has been great and I couldn’t have asked for a better first year. The guys stayed focused on one week at a time. They didn’t even get into states mode until this week. We had to overcome some stuff, but they always moved forward. It’s just a great program.”
• Along with claiming the crown this year and in 2012, Guilford’s previous state titles came in Class L in 1980, 1986, 2003, and 2004, plus in Class MM for 2005 and 2010.
• Guilford also finished as runner-up to New Fairfield for Class MM in 2013, missing out on the top spot by a point.
• After spending time as an assistant with the Indians, this is Jonathan Rivera’s first year as head coach. He’s assisted by Pat Martucci.
• The Indians had previously won their 10th SCC Hammonasset Division crown this fall before coming in third at the SCC Championship.