DHS cross country team has strong and fulfilling season

By Sophia Brunetti ’23

*An update to this article has been posted at the bottom of the page.

Students and parents were on the edge of their seats for the NVL”s – Naugatuck Valley League – Championship on October 19th, followed by the Class S State Championship on October 29th. They were excited to see the Derby High School Cross Country team racing against others to bring a name to the school. 

The girls’ Cross Country team consists of their captain, Cayla Cayer-McCarthy ‘23, Cassie Silkoff ‘25, Alysa Cayer-McCarthy ‘23, Sofia Rudus ‘26, Emma Hyder ‘25, and Genna Chevarella ‘23. When asked about improvements and goals for the current running season, Derby Coach Joe “Muz” Musante said; “Our goal this season is to establish a winning record – more wins than losses. It’s a smaller team in numbers than in recent years, but our girls have worked hard to achieve the goal of a winning season. In fact, the level of improvement on an individual level has been impressive. Each person has run significantly faster than last year, and we’ve also seen faster times than earlier this season.” According to Musante stats have increased for each individual.

Some of the examples provided include: “Alysa Cayer-McCarthy last year ran a 26:45 in a home meet at Witek Park. This year, over a slightly longer course at Witek, she ran a 25:05”, “Rudus had never broken 25 minutes before on a 5k (3.1-mile) course. It’s only mid-season, but she’s already run 24:32 this year,” “Cassie Silkoff has the team’s fastest time this year with a 22:44 at home.” Musante finishes off his speech on October 6th at 10:32 AM with one last, strong statement about the girls. 

“Cassie and Cayla have been leading the way for us all season, while Alysa and Sofia are providing us with a strong 3-4 punch,” Muz said. “Emma has improved all season and has put together the best cross-country races of her career. And Genna, who was injured for most of last season, is a much stronger runner this year, continuing to run faster as the season progresses.” 

Just like the girls’ team, the boys have also improved a lot over the course of their training. And the excitement for the upcoming races is only getting stronger. The team members for the boy’s cross country team include Tyler Izquierdo ‘25, Joe Skoronski ‘25, Mason Izquierdo ‘25, and Brandon Tosado ‘26. 

“We’re really focusing on individual success this season on the boys’ team,” Muz said. “And we have been seeing considerable progress. Tyler has gotten very strong by running all summer and is moving to the next level of his running career. His times are getting faster.” He soon follows this up with another statement about their newest runner, Skoronski as well as the others on the team. “Joe is a new runner who just joined the team last month and is already showing indications of becoming a strong runner. Mason has picked up where he left off last year and is getting better. And Brandon is a freshman who has improved considerably from when he first joined the team.”

Musante also handed gave praise to the boys. “Tyler has posted the team’s fastest times this year with a 19:25 over the 5k course at the Winding Trails Invitational in Farmington. Joe ran a 21:12 at Witek Park.”

Hopefully soon, we will be able to see both teams succeed in the NVLS and the races that follow!

UPDATE: The team did very well at NVLs! Silkoff was in the top 8 of ‘All NVLs’ while Rudus and T. Izquierdo were in the top 6 of their division.