For the Valley Regional boys’ and girls’ cross country teams, their performances on the conference and state championship stages showed that they have the map towards the path of garnering the attention of the top teams in their league and state.

At the Shoreline Conference Championships on Oct. 17 at Hammonasset State Park in Madison, the girls’ squad finished fifth out of 10 teams with a tally of 136. Haddam-Killingworth took the team crown with a score of 31 points. Meanwhile, the boys placed ninth out of 10 clubs with 248 points. The boys’ championship went to Hale-Ray with its collective score of 40.

Brian Drinkard, who shares the coaching duties for the program with Chris Allegretti, explained that while the Warriors were not in the mix for either of the squad championships, they saw several personal triumphs on the paths that day.

“Shorelines was a good event for our team. All of our runners ran their fastest times of the season,” said Drinkard. “It’s tough in the powerhouse Shoreline Conference, but we knew going in where we stacked up, and we were pleased with our teams’ individual results.”

For the girls’ event, junior Sadie Iselin paced the Warriors by coming in 21st place with a time of 20 minutes and 41.9 seconds. Junior Sonya Xaypanya was close by at 23rd in a mark of 20:50.80. Freshman Phoebe Gerlplaced 24th (21:18.80), and then her sibling and classmate Katie Gerl was 29th (21:26.20). Junior Rowan Herlihy finished 40th in a pace of 22 minutes and 11.2 seconds. Senior Campbell Massey was 42nd in 22:32.60, and senior Kendall Costello found 61st place in 27:22.50.

Junior Oliver Proctor was the top placer for the Valley boys’ team by finishing 42nd place in 18:34.30. Freshman Tucker Ferretti came in 44th with a time of 18 minutes and 42.70 seconds. Sophomore Jonathon Howley came in 19th place with a time of 19:06, and senior Lyle Pitman was next at 54th place (19:25.40). Sophomore Jackson Fritz found 59th place at 19:35.60, junior John Carter raced to 66th place (21:00.50), and freshman Myles Garrity saw 67th place in 21:02.90.

Across the two clubs, the Warriors deploy a trio of captains with Pitman, Massey, and Herlihy. Pitman is now a three-year program veteran, while Massey is a four-year mainstay with Valley. While being the lone junior captain, Herlihy is a runner of all seasons by keeping her legs moving during indoor and outdoor track campaigns. Additionally, Costello is a newcomer to the cross country trails, though she has made major strides in a short span of time.

“Lyle is a team leader, and his running has steadily improved over his career. Campbell is an extremely hard worker. She will be looking forward to indoor and outdoor track, where she will be pole vaulting and has qualified for states the past two seasons,” said Drinkard. “Kendall is a 600 specialist in indoor and outdoor track. She worked very hard this season and was a welcomed addition to our team. Rowan is a 1000 runner and looks to have an outstanding season in both the indoor and outdoor track seasons.”

Looking at the above results from Shorelines in such a deep talent pool for the league and the grades of the runners, the Warriors look to thrive even more moving forward. Iseline and Proctor stood out as the top performers for the girls’ and boys’ teams, respectively. Moreso, Valley got an added jolt with a phenomenal freshman class.

“Sadie Iselin was our top female runner this year, finishing 21st overall at Shorelines. Sadie had a good season and worked really hard during her training. Oliver Proctor was the boys’ top runner and put in a really good season following a summer of running on his own. We look for Oliver to be a leader on and off the course next season,” said Drinkard. “Freshman Phoebe Gerl had a great first season with us. She has been running with an injured shoulder all season and putting up really good times. We are really excited about Phoebe and her twin sister, Katie, for the next three years. Tucker Ferretti was another freshman who had a big impact on the program. Tucker has worked hard as a freshman and looks to have a good future for Valley as a cross country runner.”

At the Class SS State Championship on Oct. 26 at Wickham Park, the girls finished fifth with 163 points. Running on the day were Iselin (17th, 22:242), Phoebe Gerl (27th,23:42), Xaypanya (33rd, 24:03), Katie Gerl (39th, 24:20), Herlihy (47th, 24:39), Massey (63rd, 25:58), and Costello (107th. 32:09).

On the boys’ side, they placed 16th with a team tally of 430. Competing for Valley were Proctor (68th, 20:32), Ferretti (69th, 20:33), Fritz (93rd, 22:04), Howley (98th, 22:17), Pitman (102nd, 23:05), Garrity (122nd, 25:42), and junior John Carter (133rd, 31:04).

In evaluating those likely returning underclassmen runners, their progress, and the few graduating athletes, 2025 and beyond looks quite promising for the Warriors on all fronts. They will head into next fall with another year of great running experience, along with a new path close at home.

“The teams have worked very hard this season. The future looks great with only losing three athletes next season,” said Drinkard. “We are very excited about our returning runners next year, as well as a brand new cross country course on the Valley campus.”

The girls’ roster is comprised of seniors Holly Board, Costello, Massey; juniors Herlihy, Iselin, Xaypanya; plus freshmen Katie Gerl, and Phoebe Gerl.

The boys’ team roster is made up of seniors Pitman, Gavin Shkutzko, Andrew Thomas; juniors Carter, Proctor; sophomores Howley, Fritz; plus freshmen Ferretti, Garrity, and Alex Holcomb.