The Guilford Grizzlies boys’ cross country team is currently in the midst of its 2023 season that began with the club’s first race against Wilton on Sept. 9. The head coach of the Grizzlies, Jonathan Rivera, is in his ninth season with the program and has been coaching cross country and track for Guilford since 2001.

So far, the Grizzlies have competed in two races this season. Coach Rivera felt that his athletes performed well in the opening race at Wilton.

“We ran well at Wilton and took second in the Small Schools Race, despite being without two of our top three runners. The heat was a challenge, but everyone had the same conditions,” said Rivera. “It was a good starting point to build off of. [Senior] Alex Hansen led the way in both races.”

Guilford’s top contributors from the race included senior captain Hansen, who placed 11th with a final time of 17:12.70; and senior Alex Milano, who finished in 26th with a time of 18:20.10 for the boys’ 5,000-meter varsity event.

The Grizzlies then went on to compete against Cheshire, Notre Dame-West Haven, and Wilbur Cross on Sept. 12. Coach Rivera’s squad defeated two of its three opponents at the meet.

“We raced at Cheshire. We were late and had limited warm-up time, but did the best we could. We lost to Cheshire, but beat Notre Dame and Cross,” said Rivera. “We are confident we can compete with Cheshire at the end of the season, hopefully back to or close to full strength. We have a solid group of freshmen this year that are improving each race.”

There are three senior captains leading the Grizzlies this season. Guilford’s senior captains are Hansen, Connor Pensa, and Eli-Green Perez.

“All three are four-year members, dedicated hard workers who lead by example, and they each bring their own strengths, which complement each other,” said Rivera.

The Grizzlies compete in the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) for league competition and are in Class MM for states competition. Last season, the Grizzlies finished second at the SCC Championship meet and placed third for the Class MM State Championship. Rivera has high expectations for what the Grizzlies can achieve this year.

“I think we can be very competitive in the SCC, do well in our invitationals, and give finishing first or second at states a run for the money,” said Rivera. “We need to stay healthy, and we need to be tougher and more durable at the end of the season then we were last year in order to accomplish that.”

In addition to Hansen leading the way for the first two races, Coach Rivera notes a few other runners who will be top performers for the Grizzlies.

“Alex Hansen is so consistent and always comes up big, but it is the back side of our top seven which really has the biggest impact on how far we can go this year,” said Rivera. “[Junior] Enzo Taverna came into the season in great shape, and I am excited to see what he can do this year once he is healthy again.”

The Grizzlies returned several runners from last season, including the members of its senior class. There are seven seniors on the team this year, and several of them made the All-SCC First Team last fall, including Hansen; while fellow senior Coleman Love made the All-SCC Second Team. Hansen, Love, and fellow senior Cooper Woods contributed to the 115 points that the Grizzlies recorded at the Class MM State Championships last year, and all three runners are slated to once again be big contributors for Guilford this fall.

Coach Rivera believes that having a senior-laden team will help the Grizzlies deal with the challenges they’ll be facing in the 2023 campaign.

“We already have faced a few, but adversity makes you stronger. We have a senior-heavy squad this year, so developing the youth behind them is a big task to take care of this year,” said Rivera.

Despite those challenges, Rivera notes that the Grizzlies have several goals they would like to meet this season, including winning their division and also being at the top of the conference.

“Our goal is always to win the division first and then from there try and be as close to the top of the conference as possible with our eyes on runner-up,” said Rivera. “Then finally, try and keep our streak of finishing in the top 10 at the Open meet as we have done the previous two seasons.”

The Grizzlies’ roster includes seniors Mackinley Cho, Green-Perez, Hansen, Love, Alex Milano, Pensa, and Woods; juniors Lance Berry, Taverna, and Ethan Wienkamp; sophomores Joshua Daniels, James Donahue, Gabriel Grassi, Calder Hutchinson, William Johnson, Aaron Kowlaonek, Gennaro Marino, Brayden Matthias, Parker Onacilla, and Salavtore Parese; and freshmen Jordan Espinosa, Luca Espositio-Langlais, Tyler Mezrich, Lewis Thoreen, and David Zhang.

Coach Rivera is joined by first year assistant coach Kayla Stevens.