One week after winning its second-straight Shoreline Conference title, the Haddam-Killingworth girls’ cross country team showed up in a big way for the Class SS State Championship that was hosted at Wickham Park on Oct. 29. The Cougars finished in first place as a team at the meet to claim their third-consecutive state crown and the sixth in program history.

After H-K placed first in 2019, there were no state meets held in 2020, but the girls came right back and continued their success at states in each of the last two seasons. This year, H-K saw five of its runners finish in the top 10 and won the meet by a wide margin on its way to attaining the Class SS three-peat.

“We were the favorites going into the race,” Head Coach Matt Diglio said. “We felt confident and built up momentum as the season progressed.”

Still, Coach Diglio emphasized to his athletes that nothing is guaranteed since anything can happen in a race, and he knew that the Cougars had to go out and perform to the best of their ability at states. Overall, Diglio was very pleased with H-K’s performance.

“We lost three top girls last year to graduation, so the team came together this year and stepped up,” said Diglio. “We didn’t skip a beat.”

The H-K girls scored 17 points as a squad in the Class SS meet, finishing well ahead of runner-up Plainville with 60 points. The Cougars’ performance marked one of the best scores ever recorded at a cross country State Championship.

Freshman Grace Mitchell finished in second place for H-K in the race by running a time of 20:26 at the meet. Senior captain Isabel Berardino took fourth place with a time of 21:04 for the Cougars. Both athletes earned All-State honors with their performances.

Berardino and fellow senior Georgia Cancroft are the captains for an H-K team that features 18 athletes. Coach Diglio referred to both girls as great captains who help lead the team in different ways.

“Isabel does a fantastic job as a captain,” Diglio said. “She leads by example and is a great role model for the younger girls on the team.”

Coach Diglio added that he trusts Cancroft to work with H-K’s group of JV runners and felt she did a great job of stepping up and leading them. Diglio said that Cancroft is always supportive and displays a positive attitude while serving as a captain alongside Berardino.

After helping H-K win its third-straight Class SS title, Berardino said she that loves being around her teammates and felt proud to see everyone contribute to the Cougars’ victory in states.

“Going into the state championship meet, I knew we were the favorites. I also knew that unpredictable things can happen at state meets, so I went into the race with that in the back of my mind. By the time all of our girls had crossed the line, it was pretty clear we had won,” said Berardino. “All of our girls worked incredibly hard to get to this point in the season, and being able to celebrate our success together was an incredible feeling.”

Coach Diglio said that Wickham Park is a challenging course, because it is very hilly, but the Cougars delivered in spite of that obstacle. Following Mitchell in second place and Berardino in fourth, sophomore Keira Sehl-Albert finished in sixth place for H-K by running a time of 21:26 at the Class SS State Championship, securing All-State honors. Junior Sydney Adelberg finished in ninth place with a time of 21:37, while freshman Delaney Aronson posted a time of 21:44 to take 10th place. Adelberg and Aronson both garnered All-State accolades on behalf of the Cougars.

Senior Chloe Lacoss finished in 23rd place for H-K with a time of 23:23 at states. Fellow senior Kira O’Brien came in 33rd place after crossing the finish line with a time of 23:42.

The H-K girls have qualified for the State Open Championship that’s taking place at Wickham Park on Friday, Nov. 4. Coach Diglio said that the Cougars will use this week to rest and recover as they get mentally prepared for the State Open race.

“The girls are ranked 10th in the state. The top six teams make New Englands,” Diglio said. “It’s very tough for small schools to compete against the bigger schools.”

Even with this challenge, Coach Diglio feels confident in his team’s ability to match up with the competition at the Open. The overall team goal in the future is for the girls to continue to pattern of success that they’ve seen over the past few years.

“We’ve established a tradition of success at the Shoreline and state level,” said Diglio. “The girls are aware of the tradition and want to be a part of it.”

On the other side, the H-K boys’ cross country team finished in third place with 86 points scored at the Class SS State Championship. Griswold finished in first place (56), and Suffield took second place (58) at the meet.

After his team had recently come up shy of placing first at Shorelines for the first time in nine years, Coach Diglio knew that it was going to be a challenge for the boys when they competed at the state level last week.

“It’s been a challenge all fall long. We had two top-five runners out with injuries, so we didn’t have the depth that we needed,” Diglio said. “It was a tough and challenging fall, but they persevered.”

The H-K boys have 18 athletes on their roster, and three of them are serving as team captains. Alex Lara is a senior and has been a top runner for the team all season. Senior Jack Insalaco was sidelined with an injury, but still came to practice every day to support his teammates. Fellow senior Joe Giaccone also missed a lot of time due to an injury, but Coach Diglio said that he was always super positive, upbeat, and supportive.

Sophomore Jack Cozean posted H-K’s best performance at the Class SS State Championship by finishing in fourth place with a time of 17:33, earning himself a spot on the All-State Team. Lara also made All-State by taking 10th place with a time of 17:46 for the Cougars.

Freshman Daniel McCourt came in 14th place after finishing with a time of 18:12 at states. Junior Luke Hedges took 26th place by running a time of 18:49. Sophomore Sawyer DiMatteo finished in 33rd place with a mark of 19:07.

Senior Peter Lavelle recorded a time of 19:41 to finish in 46th place for the Cougars. Freshman Alex Fredrickson was right behind him in 47th place with a time of 19:43.

Despite the fact that the H-K boys didn’t qualify for the State Open as a team, the Cougars will still be able to cheer on Cozean and Lara, who qualified for the meet individually. Coach Diglio looks forward to seeing how Cozean and Lara will fare at the Open.

“Our mentality we’ve always had is that we’re two teams, but one program,” said Diglio. “Even though the boys didn’t qualify for the meet as a team, the whole team keeps practicing and working out and supporting them.”