Following are the 2024 high school preview capsules for boys’ cross country:

ECC

Division I

East Lyme

Coach: Mike Flynn (9th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Jilali Benjdid, Sr. Matt Carrier, Sr. Sean McCauley, Sr. Jack Jensen, Sr. Dylan Johnson, Jr. Sam Leone, Jr. Jack Faitsch, Jr. Ivan Butova, Jr. Adrik Gates, Jr. Gavin Fant, Jr. Christian Allen, Jr. Luke Bergman, Jr. Harrison Thompson, Jr. Topher Regan, Jr. Ethan Scheide, Jr. Oliver Selmer-Larsen, So. Joey Papalia, So. Karthik Bolineni, So. Sahir Gupta, So. Owen Garabedian, So. Kyle Miranda, So. Kaden Vargas.

Top newcomers: Nico Cardello, Brayden Delaney, Chris Faitsch, Deene Fowler, Will Grant, Derek Heberley, Trevor Hintze, William Muscarelli, Max Olawale, Luca Rodriguez McCue, Jacob Scott, Jaxson Selmer-Larsen, Gorman Todd, Jaxon Vargas.

Outlook: Flynn has a lofty description of this team, which comes into the season having won back-to-back Class MM state championships. “If healthy this team has the potential to be the best in school history,” Flynn said. The Vikings won their sixth straight ECC Open with 27 points, led by the league’s individual champ in McCauley (16:29), The Day’s All-Area Boys’ Cross Country Runner of the Year. The Vikings then placed four in the top 10 in McCauley (2nd), Benjdid (7th), Leone (8th) and Carrier (10th) to win the Class MM title with 43 points and East Lyme placed fifth in the State Open to earn a trip to the New England championship. “The boys had a tremendous summer of training and have looked tremendous early on in practice,” Flynn said. “The team is focused on being healthy at the end of the season and going after some big goals.” McCauley (3,200), Leone (1,600) and Benjdid (4x800) earned All-New England honors in outdoor track.

Fitch

Coach: Rich Kosta (13th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Evan Vitagliano, Sr. Shea Cahill, Sr. Brodie Clinton, Jr. Julien Silva, Jr. Jordan Harris, Jr. Kai Gordan, So. Damien Flax.

Top newcomers: So. Logan Whaley.

Outlook: Silva was sixth in the ECC and 18th in Class MM last season and joins Cahill, Vitagliano and Harris as runners with substantial racing experience at the varsity level. Kevin Lam, meanwhile, leads a group of six freshmen who hope to have an immediate impact. Kosta is hoping the team can gain experience as it goes to maintain or even improve on last year’s overall third-place finish at the ECC championship.

Ledyard

Coach: Chris Helminski (4th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Antonio Soldato, Jr. Lucas Heide, Jr. Parker Widlicka, So. Greyson Stephenson, So. Raymond Grogan.

Top newcomers: Fr. Hunter Lupo.

Outlook: The Colonels have their work cut out for them this year if they wish to repeat as Class M champions, graduating four of their top five runners, as well as seeing Class SS champ Rocky Hill move up a division to face Ledyard. Still, Helminski keeps the team goals the same, hoping to finish among the top teams in the ECC and at the state meet. Soldato was 14th in last season’s Class M championship, helping Ledyard claim the title with 58 points. The Colonels were the 2023 ECC Division II champions, moving up to the loaded Division I ranks.

NFA

Coach: Jeff Wadecki (1st season)

Key returnees: Sr. Patrick Croughwell, Sr. Jesse Croteau, Sr. Robinson Meuse, Sr. Anthony Debartolo, Sr. Owen Muench, Sr. Greg Bourdon.

Top newcomers: Sr. Kyle Kornacki, Fr. Jack Dempsey.

Outlook: The addition of Kornacki, last winter’s ECC 600-meter champion during indoor track, to an already strong roster of distance runners, will go a long way toward helping the team. Wadecki is setting high goals for the Wildcats, including competing with East Lyme for the overall ECC title and qualifying as a team for the State Open. Croughwell, the Class LL 3,200 champion during indoor track, was 12th in last year’s ECC cross country meet with Croteau 14th.

(Woodstock Academy also competes in Division I.)

Division II

Bacon Academy

Coach: Marycia Malloy (2nd season)

Key returnees: Sr. Bennett Holloway, Jr. Michael Dickey, Jr. Ian McClain, Jr. Evan Lovegrove, Jr. Eli Banks, So. Boden Paul.

Top newcomers: Alex Sanchez, Benjamin Adams, River Bohn, Jeremy Bennett, Gabrial Kruse.

Outlook: Bacon returns its top three runners in Paul, Dickey and McClain and has five returnees in all, with Malloy hoping the Bobcats will be able to capitalize on that experience.

Griswold

Coach: Kelsey Tobler (8th season)

Key returnees: Jr. Joshua Montgomery, So. Tycen LaBelle, So. Sean Silva, So. Dylan Bailey, So. Xzavier De La Rosa.

Top newcomers: So. Dylan Marchand.

Outlook: Griswold was the second-place finisher in ECC Division II a year ago and looks to take over the top spot behind LaBelle, who flourished last season as a freshman. LaBelle was the ECC runner-up in 16:39 and the Class SS runner-up in 16:55, later finishing 16th at the State Open and 20th to earn All-New England honors. The Wolverines lose team captain Maxwell Brown to graduation, leaving what Tobler calls “a young and determined team with lots of potential and a very promising/bright future ahead.”

Stonington

Coach: Megan Chapman (4th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Brady deCastro, Sr. Emerson Baltrukonis, Jr. Collin Scherer, Jr. Michel Rodriguez, So. Jake Wagner.

Outlook: Stonington had only four runners at last year’s ECC meet, not enough for a team score, but according to Chapman have been building for this moment. “The boys are very excited for this season ... and are ready to show the ECC what they are made of,” the coach said. DeCastro led the way for the Bears last season, finishing 34th in the ECC.

Waterford

Coach: Chris Gamble (18th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Titus Olson, Jr. Bronson Leone, Jr. Adam Balfour, Jr. Michael Turner, So. Mason Huoppi.

Outlook: The Lancers lost Jay Zimmermann and Xavier Del Grosso — Gamble calls the duo “two good runners and leaders” — but have five runners back who gained experience in last year’s postseason meets. Gamble said numbers are good and there are several runners competing to fill Waterford’s top seven.

(Killingly also competes in Division II.)

Division III

Lyman Memorial

Coach: Chantal Fauteux-Fields (3rd season)

Key returnees: Sr. Oliver Gatti, Jr. Cameron Watkins, So. Kellen Johnson, So. Tilden Reinckens, So. Owen Sehl, So. Sawyer Sanchez, So. Landon Collins.

Top newcomers: Fr. Levi Gatti, Fr. Mason Martin, Fr. Jonah Dodge, Fr. Andrew Sweeney.

Outlook: The Bulldogs gained momentum at the end of last season, tying division champion Montville with 46 points at the ECC meet, although Montville still claimed the title by virtue of a regular-season win over Lyman. Lyman returns its top two runners in Johnson and Gatti and continues to expand its roster, looking forward to perhaps competing for a Divsion III championship.

Montville

Coach: Steve LaBranche (9th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Alex Joseph, Sr. Kyler Newer, Sr. Yomilex Ramirez, Sr. Nathan Dhillon, Sr. Danny Zhong, Sr. Brady Bilheimer, Jr. Zachary Thomas.

Top newcomers: Fr. Charlie Maffeo, Fr. Ian Mitchell, Fr. Talon Hunter, Fr. Jackson LaFlash.

Outlook: Montville, the two-time defending ECC Division III champion, enters the season with high expectations, bolstered by the return of nine seniors, but faces what LaBranche calls a challenging road with the league merging Divisions III and IV. Senior captains Joseph, Newer and Ramirez, along with fellow senior and returning ECC all-star Dhillon, aim to lead the charge in defense of their title. “Early-season practices indicate that the varsity athletes put in significant miles over the summer,” said LaBranche, who believes that positions Montville for another competitive season.

New London

Coach: Jelani Lucas (2nd season)

Top newcomers: So. Troy McKelvin Jr.

Outlook: The Whalers don’t have enough runners to score, but add McKelvin Jr., a member of St. Bernard’s state runner-up boys’ basketball team a year ago, to their roster.

St. Bernard

Coach: Juliana Rosas (4th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Savas Videll, Jr. Palmer Noe, Jr. Connar Petro, Jr. Juno Yi, So. Anthony Depaola, So. Rad Tanksley.

Top newcomers: Fr. Karter Hernandez, Fr. Tyler Stringer.

Outlook: Although the Saints lost their top three runners to graduation, including Colin Britner, who was 11th in the ECC, they look to remain competitive for the Division III title. St. Bernard has a young team which will be led by Tanksley, a sophomore, and Stringer, a freshman. Montville, the defending Division III champ, edged St. Bernard 28-29 last year in the first meet of the season.

Wheeler

Coach: Marc Tardiff (24th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Trevor Scarchilli, Sr. Jonathan Nave, Jr. James Noyes, So. Jett Timmons.

Top newcomers: So. Rueben Allen, So. Jack Gouveia, Fr. Elias Johnson.

Outlook: Wheeler, last year’s ECC Division IV champ, moves to a newly combined Division III with hopes of competing for the title. Scarchilli and Nave will act as captains for the Lions, with Scarchilli already equaling his best time from last season on Wheeler’s course and Nave coming back “each year stronger and more determined,” Tardiff said. Noyes and Timmons enter their second year running and Tardiff notes their determination and improvement.

(Plainfield, Putnam, Toutellotte and Windham also compete in Division III.)

Others

Norwich Tech

Coach: Catherine Sikorski (7th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Giuseppe Race, Sr. Daniel LaRose, So. Savien Diaz.

Top newcomers: Fr. Noah Caisse, Fr. Austin Hales.

Outlook: The Warriors will miss graduates Justin Caisse, Elijah Orbe and Jesse Pulk-Littlefield, however they did return with several experienced runners led by Race, who finished fourth in the Connecticut Technical Conference meet last season to earn all-league honors. Said Sikorski: “We are looking to build on past successes and to have a competitive season in our conference.” Norwich Tech was fifth in the CTC meet last season with 147 points.

Old Lyme

Coach: Aron D’Aquila (6th season)

Key returnees: Sr. Simon Karpinski, Sr. Mark Burnham, Sr. James Straub, Jr. Andrew Taylor, Jr. Carson St Louis, So. Skylar Graybill, So. Zach Guidi.

Top newcomers: Jr. Caden Camarra, Fr. Frederick Goss.

Outlook: Old Lyme is set to have a competitive season with a number of veterans led by captains Karpinski and Burnham and some valuable newcomers. Said D’Aquila: “They logged their summer miles and are ready to race.” Old Lyme was seventh last season in the Shoreline Conference championship meet.

Williams

Coach: Sarah Jennings (2nd season)

Key returnees: Jr. Jadiel Thomas.

Outlook: A dynamic three-sport athlete at Williams, Thomas was the Connecticut Independent School Athletic Conference champion and a New England qualifier in cross country last season. The Blues graduated Tyler Boissevain, but return four of their top five scorers. Jennings said that with last year’s coaching change came a period of transition, but is optimistic that this season Williams will be able to build on that success “with a great group of student-athletes.”