Sean McCauley absolutely loves running ... more than anyone that East Lyme High School’s Mike Flynn has ever coached.

When asked about his passion for running, McCauley said: “I just love competing with people. I love a good outcome when you put in lots of hard work and it pays off, not only for yourself but for your team. You get to see your whole team have success.”

McCauley enjoyed a successful junior season competing on the boys’ cross country team. He reached new heights personally, winning the Eastern Connecticut Conference race, placing second in Class MM, ninth in the State Open and 13th in New Englands.

He also helped pace the Vikings to a sixth straight ECC championship, a Class MM title, fifth in the State Open and sixth in the New England championship.

For his efforts, McCauley was named The Day’s 2023 All-Area Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year.

McCauley has everything that you’d want in a runner, according to Flynn.

“If you’re going to build a runner in a lab, you’d basically build Sean,” Flynn said. “From a physical standpoint, he’s tall and lean and just has absolutely beautiful running form. Mentally, he’s very, very coachable and he loves all of it. … He really has the total package going.”

McCauley excelled despite missing time due to an Achilles injury. He sat out for a couple of weeks and didn’t really race hard for about a month before the ECC championship.

Yet, he still went out and won by 10 seconds.

“For being injured, I think it went pretty well,” McCauley said of his season. “I made the most of it for the amount of workouts I missed and runs I missed. … I thought I made a big jump from last year. I’m pretty happy with it.”

McCauley comes from a running family — his brother, Ryan, and sister Meghan competed for East Lyme and were coached by Flynn.

Flynn first heard of Sean’s ability from Ryan and Meghan.

“They’d always talk about Sean and how he was the real runner in the family,” Flynn said. “... They’d talked about how Sean just loved to run and loved to run and loved to run. So I knew him through the family from when he was pretty young.

“They were certainly right. He absolutely just loves running and the sport and competing.”

Sean points to his brother Ryan, a former all-state performer now competing at Central Connecticut State University, as a strong influence in his running career.

“The first exposure I had to running in cross country was when I went to watch him in high school,” McCauley said. “Something about being there. It was a ton of fun to see my brother race.

“We still run together when we can. We bond over that in a way. That’s a big thing for me.”

McCauley has gradually progressed during his high school career.

He’s developed as a runner and made strides in his mental approach and preparation.

He’s a student of the sport, studying other runners.

“He’s become a very cerebral racer,” Flynn said. “He really has begun the process of really learning how to race courses and race other people. His talent level is just through the roof.”

Big things are in store for McCauley.

McCauley has set some lofty goals — individual and team — for indoor and outdoor track.

And, of course, he has one more cross country season to do what he loves.

“I’m definitely super excited for next year,” McCauley said. “I have some big goals for not only me but the whole team. ... I hope to run in college and even post-college. And I’m always going to be chasing a PR or the next goal.”

Flynn believes McCauley has a bright future.

“”He’s a young junior; he just turned 16 at the end of October,” Flynn said. “I told him, ‘I’m going to get you as good as I can get you in high school safely without really going too far.’

“But I’m just so excited to see what he does when he hits his early 20s in college. He has such a big talent and he has such a love for running that I think he’s going to do some really big things. … It will be really exciting to find out what his ceiling is because he’s a long way away from it and he’s already done some pretty amazing things.”

g.keefe@theday.com

The Day’s 2023 All-Area Boys’ Cross Country Team

Player of the Year - Sean McCauley (East Lyme)

Jilali Benjdid (East Lyme)

Nathan Bergman (East Lyme)

Colin Britner (St. Bernard)

Matthew Carrier (East Lyme)

Jackson Hill (Ledyard)

Tycen LaBelle (Griswold)

Sam Leone (East Lyme)