For both the East Haven boys’ and girls’ cross country teams, the target going into the trails this fall was to continue upward growth in terms of participation within the program, and the Yellowjackets did just that, while building a formidable foundation for future progress on the league and state stages.

For Head Coach Rick Narracci and his group, it only housed one girl within the entire roster back in 2022 for the program. This fall, East Haven concluded the 2023 campaign with a much more sizable total, by comparison, of five boys and four girls.

“The main goal is always to be running our best times and races during the SCC and state championships toward the end of the season,” said Narracci. “We are also trying to get more kids out for the team. We also ended the season with five boys and four girls on the team, [whereas] last season we had no boys and one girl.”

On the boys’ side, senior Jacob Ushchak garnered the boys’ team MVP award, and fellow classmate Paul Carangelo was bestowed with the Coaches’ award. Freshman Moiyad Shnan was the Most Improved Runner for the boys. At the Class MM State Championship on

Oct. 28 at Wickham Park, Ushchak finished 11th with a time of 22 minutes and 12 seconds, plus freshman Cru Faughnan was 131st in 23:41, and Shnan was 140th (26:39).

For the girls’ slate and their postseason squad honors, senior Melania Korenovsky was the Team MVP and freshman Mei Shnan paced herself to Most Improved Runner. Korenovsky finished 70th at the Class MM State Championship at Wickham Park on Oct. 28 in a mark of 26 minutes and four seconds, and then Shnan placed 110th (in 31:07).

In speaking to the contributions of his departing senior boys, Narracci praised the pair for not only their diligence to their personal growth, but additionally their dedication to boosting the team morale daily, and doing it with a consistent smile and brimming optimism.

“Jacob and Paul were both first-year runners. Jacob is a joy to be around. He always has a positive attitude and is a great teammate. He worked extremely hard this season, including running a local road race every weekend and placing first for his age group in two of them,” said Narracci. “Paul is a great leader as a two-sport captain in baseball and cross country. He is another hard worker, who I refer to as a grinder. He always competes, whether it’s a practice or competition, and no matter if he is feeling well or not. Both of those guys will be tough to replace.”

With regards to the lone senior for the girls, Narracci noted that Korenovsky helped keep the girls’ club afloat the past two campaigns, while notching only superlatives in Narracci’s eyes when it came to her athleticism and stewardship qualities and skills.

“The biggest loss will be Melania Korenovsky. She single-handedly kept the East Haven cross country team from folding the last two seasons,” Narracci said. “She was the lone runner on the girls’ team the last two seasons, and the only runner on either team last season. She was a great leader and role model for the younger girls and boys this season. I have been coaching boys’ and girls’ sports [basketball, track & field, cross country, softball, and golf] for the last

28 years, and she is at the top of the list in terms of her character, leadership, and academics. I can’t say enough good things about her. East Haven High School [EHHS] was lucky to have her, and I will miss her very much.”

The Yellowjackets will return a solid core of now more veteran runners when it comes to the

2024 season. Yet their coach noted that it will take more than simply showing up next September to race, as offseason conditioning will play a pivotal role towards success, and East Haven looks to add some new and fresh faces from any and all avenues.

“As far as the returning runners of Moiyad Shnan, Dylan Lopez [139th at states in 26:18], Cru Faughnan, Mei Shnan, Sarai Murphy, Madison Paolella, all of them have potential to be good runners if they put the time in during the offseason, especially the summer months,” said Narracci. “If you don’t put in the miles during the summer, you don’t really give yourself a realistic chance to compete in the SCC or the state championships. You are constantly playing catch-up trying to just get into running shape. All of them need to come into the season already in shape, and have to learn how to compete every single day of practice on a much more consistent basis; every practice matters. Hopefully we have some incoming freshmen who will add to our depth next year, and I have also talked to some kids currently at EHHS to come out for the team, which would help us be much more competitive.”

The 2023 East Haven boys’ cross country roster was comprised of seniors Ushchak and Carangelo; plus freshmen of Shnan, Lopez, and Faughnan.

The 2023 Yellowjackets’ girls’ cross country roster was comprised of senior Korenovsky; sophomores Murphy and Paolella; and freshman Shnan.