The Haddam-Killingworth girls’ cross country team yet again showed why it is the class of the Shoreline Conference by harnessing the strength of dedicated training to form a formidable pack to allow them to dominate another title meet.

The Cougars secured their fourth-straight Shoreline Conference crown and eighth overall since 2015 after finishing first at the Shoreline Conference Championships on Oct. 17 at Hammonasset State Park in Madison. H-K notched an impressive low team tally of 31 points–easily outpacing themselves from runner-up Hale-Ray with its 74.

“We returned sixth of our top seven runners from last year, so we had a lot of talent back. But they focused on training in the summer and had a good regular season, so we had a lot of momentum going into Shorelines,” said Head Coach Matt Diglio, whose team went 5-0 in its lone dual meet of the year. “We knew that if we did what we knew we were capable of, then we could win it. Two of their goals were to go undefeated in dual meets and win Shorelines, so they accomplished both.”

H-K helped secure the title on the strength of occupying four of the top 10 slots in the race. Sophomore Charlotte Behnke placed third by clocking in at 18 minutes and 32.80 seconds. Right behind her was junior teammate Grace Mitchell in fourth with a mark of 18:48.20. Next came junior Julia Downingat sixth, who ran her three miles in a time of 19 minutes and 17.1 seconds. Junior Amelia Riggs completed the fourth top 10 placement by coming in seventh at 19:28.20.

Also racing for the Cougars was senior Keira Sehl-Albert, who finished 11th at a pace of 19:45.30; junior Delaney Aronson followed at 12th in 19:51.30; and sophomore Emilia Schweitzer was 16th in 20:11.70.

“They raced really well, and we had a nice pack between our runners,” said Diglio. “We had about a two-minute gap between our first and last runner at the start of the year, so we wanted to have the whole group more tightly packed. We focused on that during practices and invitational meets, because we wanted to make that compression tight for bigger meets.”

The girls who finished in the top 10 of the race notched First Team All-Shoreline accolades, while those who placed No. 11-20 were Second Team honorees.

Sehl-Albert explained after the win that it was good for the Cougars to follow suit from her previous three seasons. But of course herself and her teammates did not simply expect to win, they earned the glory of the fall with grit exuded in the summer.

“While this was my last Shoreline Championship with this team, it was great to see us come out on top,” said Sehl-Albert. “This team has won Shorelines each season since my freshman year, so it was great to continue that streak. We all worked very hard, and it was amazing to see all the work that we put into summer training and workouts pay off. It was a good note to leave off on going into states, and I am very proud of all the girls!”

Completing the team standings on the day were East Hampton in third with 107 points, Cromwell finished fourth accumulating 121, Valley Regional found fifth at 136 points, Coginchaug secured 148 tallies to place sixth, Old Lyme was seventh with 166, Old Saybrook was close behind at eighth (168), North Branford came in ninth at 251 points, and Portland was 10th (273).

The JV team also had a great race at the Shoreline Championship meet as senior co-captain Margaret Robinson placed first overall in the race in a time of 22:27 and was followed by junior Brielle Kent at third (in 23:26), and freshman Celia Huebner was fifth (24:53).

Diglio stated that both captains took stewardship over varying tiers of the team, though no matter the assignment, they carried themselves with the utmost respect for the sport and their teammates.

“I have been fortunate enough to have outstanding captains in my time here, and they continued that tradition,” Dilgio said. “They were great runners, leaders, and role models. Margaret was the leader of the JV squad, but she always sets good examples at practice and is very vocal. She has been a great contributor all four years. Keira was part of the varsity team for four years, and she is someone the younger girls really look up to. She is someone who is relied upon to take control, and they feed off of her positivity.”

Dilgio was also quick to note the camaraderie between the girls and how they put the collective accomplishments top priority over any solo feats.

“This was a tight-knit group; they trained with each other over the summer as well,” said Diglio. “They raced and did all the workouts together, and they knew it was OK if someone finished ahead of them. They know our motto is Team First and it is not about solo accolades. It is all about doing whatever is needed to help the team and that was a key component to our success.”

The 2024 H-K roster is comprised of seniors Sehl-Albert, Robinson, Emmerson Goeden; juniors Aronson, Downing, Kent, Mitchell, Riggs; sophomores Behnke, and Schweitzer; plus freshman Huebner.