Previews
Cross country looks to rebuild
It was a luxury that was nice to have for the past several seasons.
The Woodstock Academy boys’ cross-country team always knew they had a pair of front runners in Christian Menounos and Colton Sallum.
That will not be the case in 2025. Both will now be running in college.
“It will be a challenge to come back (from the graduation losses) but I think they did a great job of leaving a legacy with some of the other kids that has instilled the character that we need on the team. Overall, we have a good group that came back, though, so we might be denser than last year. We just won’t have the same 1-2 punch,” said coach Josh Welch.
That 1-2 punch produced some great results at the end of 2024. Menounos placed fourth in the ECC championship meet with Sallum in ninth. The two added a pair of top-10 finishes in the Class MM state championship going in the same order with a third and ninth-place finish, respectively and followed that up with a pair of top-25 finishes in the State Open as Menounos was 20th and Sallum 25th.
 “They were definitely big losses but I think we have some younger guys who are ready to step it up this year,” said senior captain Harrison Durand. “Hopefully, the work over the summer will pay off and we will be able to step up even though we won’t have the same punch we had from Christian and Colton.”
Durand is one of only two seniors on the team with Eli Manning being the other.
The key will be the younger runners stepping up.
“We have some depth, five or six guys, maybe seven, in between 17 and 21 or 22 minutes for the 5K which is pretty nice. The six and seven guys will be really important for us,” added junior captain Sam Greene.
Sophomore Lucas Hecker is right now the anticipated frontrunner for the Centaurs.
“He’s getting down there in the low 17s so, hopefully, he will be in the 16s and we will have a couple more in there with him and maybe the rest of the guys will be at or under 20 (minutes) by the end of the season,” Greene added.
“Lucas Hecker is getting down there to fill in the spot where, at least, Colton would have been, not quite where Christian ended the season but getting near to where Colton was,” Welch said.
Bronson Eddy, Carter Mydlarz and Owen Williamson are back as juniors while Keegan DeNolfo and Oliver Pierce are sophomore runners in addition to Hecker.
The Centaurs also have five new freshmen runners.
Can they improve upon or equal a 6-4 record of a year ago in the ECC or, more importantly, does the regular season record even matter in cross-country?
“That’s a tough one. No one likes losing but the focus is what can we do at the ECC Championship and States, both individually and as a team. I’m hoping we may see a couple of kids make New England’s or, at least, into the State Open. Hopefully, the density of the pack will come along and help us where we don’t have just the 4th and 9th runners like we did last year,” Welch said.
He is liking what he sees from Hecker, Greene and Durand who give the Centaurs a solid first three runners.
One oddity for the Centaurs, they have three home meets at the Woodstock Fairgrounds this fall.
One home meet has generally been the norm over the past several seasons.
“It will be nice,” Welch said. “(The Fairgrounds) are just like the (Norwich) Golf Course and Wickham Park in a lot of ways so having our runners out there on the big green hills, I love it. I love when we have visitors early season that maybe haven’t had as much experience on those hills and wake them up a bit.”
Cross Country Girls
Team has a lot of potential
Coach Joe Banas is a bit giddy about the 2025 girls’ cross-country season. “This could be one of the top three teams that I’ve coached here,” the veteran cross-country coach said. “We’ve had some great speed workouts this season.”
The Centaurs already had a frontrunner in senior Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain who placed eighth in the ECC Cross-Country championship race and ninth in the Class MM state championship to qualify for the State Open.
Not bad for someone who was a newcomer to cross-country.
But her top spot on the team will be under fire this season from a freshman, Emelia Langevin.
“Emmie is amazing. She just destroyed everyone in the time trials and then we have a nice pack of three with Nova (Almquist), Olivia (Tracy) and Izzy (D’Alleva-Bochain). We just have to find a solid fifth because, as everyone knows, you are only as good as your fifth runner,” Banas said.
Langevin also brought another bonus as the team has been able to practice at the Allen Hill Tree Farm in Brooklyn which provides not only a scenic vista but very hilly terrain.
“When they approached me about that, I said ‘head for the hills’ because that’s a true cross-country Christmas Tree farm,” Banas said.
Langevin is also a three-time Quinebaug Valley Junior Conference champion and has a strong pedigree.
Her uncle is Chad Johnson who was a standout runner at Norwich Free Academy and he is just one of the runners in the family. “There is something in the genes,” Banas said about Langevin but there could be a challenge from within.
D’Alleva-Bochain said. “There is a bit more expectation this year and a little more pressure which isn’t a bad thing but it’s definitely different than last year where I was just seeing what would happen. We know what will happen now and it’s just a case of if I can do it again.”
Banas said Almquist, a junior, has probably made the most progress of his returners from last year but he also has seniors Tracy, Greysen Dery, and Emma Weitknecht, junior Avery Schaefer, sophomores Isabella Amlaw, Katelynne Bell and Melanie DiPippo and freshmen Adelaide Beams, Brianna Beck and Claire Bruneaux.
One of them just has to step into that fifth spot.
 “We have a handful of girls who could do that but one of them has to catch lightning in a bottle,” Banas said. “Five closes the door. I’ve been a runner, spectator and coach for 54 years and it’s always the question, ‘Where is the fifth runner?’ If you have four and the other teams put a boatload of runners in, you go from winning the meet to being a decent team just like that.”
The Centaurs will be tested by the likes of Lyman Memorial and Ledyard early as well as Norwich Free Academy and East Lyme.
“I have high goals,” Banas said. “I told them the other day that I believe in them and I need each of them to believe in me and I will guide them. I’m putting my sights at the top. You have to shoot high.”
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy

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captions:

The boys’ cross-country team will be led by junior Sam Greene, left, and senior Harrison Durand.

Seniors Olivia Tracy, left, and Isabel D’Alleva-Bochain will serve as captain for the Woodstock Academy girls’ cross-country team. Photos by Marc Allard.

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