We might as well keep it going.
We’ve covered the teams. Now let’s talk about the runners.
With the season-opening Injury Fund XC Carnival set for Labor Day weekend, we still have a little time before the cross-country season officially gets rolling. So, after unveiling our top 10 teams for this fall, it’s now time to turn our attention to the individuals we believe could make their mark this season.
Over the next week, we’ll spotlight some of the individuals we expect to lead the way, building up to Injury Fund. Some, of course, will be familiar faces based on what we’ve seen from them in the past. After all, looking back at last year’s State Meet, we still have 12 runners returning who finished among the top 10 in the boys’ and girls’ races combined.
But there are also a few newcomers that we have our eye on this season, and should not be ignored. As usual, it’s going to get interesting.
In no particular order, here’s some of our picks this season to place among the top finishers on the boys’ side.
(All photos by Sterling Vernon @rhodeandtrack)
***
For the last two years, Bishop Hendricken’s Colby Flynn was part of our “Big Three” during the cross-country season. A trio that also included our last two state champions – La Salle’s Marshall Vernon (2024) and Portsmouth’s Sean Gray (2025).
After finishing third as a sophomore and a runner-up, just strides behind Gray last year, will Flynn complete the climb with a victory this season? The gritty senior gets our vote. As has been the case in previous years, it won’t be easy.
Flynn finished just 0.41 seconds behind Gray at the finish line last fall, clocking an all-time best of 15:16.51. He also was second to Vernon at the Class A Championships. Among other highlights last fall, he was our state’s top finisher at the prestigious Manhattan University (NY) Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park, placing seventh in the featured Eastern Division Championship race with a time of 12:25.80 on the challenging 2.5-mile course.
During his track seasons last year, Flynn recorded PRs in events ranging from the 800-meter run to the 3,000m. He was the state’s indoor 1K champion and captured the 1,500m at the outdoor meet. He was also the New England 3,200m titlist and a key leg for Hendricken’s DMR squad that nearly broke 10 minutes with a fifth-place time of 10:00.57.
No matter the race or the terrain — trails or track — you can always count on Flynn to be battling with the leaders. In our opinion, he’s the guy to beat, and to do it, you’re going to have to grind right to the end. The potential is there for a sub-15-minute effort and a stab at the course record of 14:56.09, set in 2016 by former La Salle great D.J. Principe.
Flynn’s top challenger could be his own teammate, recent East Greenwich transfer Jeremy Dru. As we’ve stated previously, Dru wasn’t in the conversation until early August when he ran the race of his career at the annual Bobby Doyle Summer Classic, finishing fourth overall with a time of 25:42.6 on the five-mile course. That time alone is an indication that Dru has the potential to run in the low 15-minute range at Ponaganset and contend up front. If the talented senior can pull it off at this year’s State Meet, it has to be listed as one of the biggest transformations in state history, considering that Dru was 34th at last year’s meet and on the JV squad as a sophomore.
For cross country, Dru comes into the season with a 5K best of 17:40.06. Look for that time to be quickly erased in his first race wearing a Hawk singlet. We’ll get a better idea of how fast Dru will run this season on the up-and-down landscape early in the season. Our guess is he’ll be right in the mix come championship time, running somewhere in the 15:00-to-15:30 range — more than two minutes faster than he’s ever run before. It will no doubt be interesting.
Barrington’s Brooks Mello is a newcomer to cross country, but his credentials on the track make him a legitimate contender for individual honors this season. After spending the last three years playing for the school’s soccer team, Mello’s decision to ditch the cleats for racing spikes could pay dividends.
Mello is coming off his best year on the track since his stellar freshman debut, when he broke two minutes for the 800m and ran a mile best of 4:25.65. The Eagle senior was ranked No. 2 in the state in the 3,000m this past spring, racing to a PR of 8:30.58 to capture the Class B crown. He was a runner-up in the 1,500m at the indoor states and also placed second in the 3K at the outdoor championship.
Mello is a confident runner who is never afraid to take charge if the race warrants it. He also has the middle-distance speed that should benefit him in the closing stages. His 2:31 best for the 1K is evidence of that. What can sometimes be forgotten is what Mello did in the 5K at the inaugural Quaker Invitational, a race he won by 11 seconds over teammate Colby Napolitano with a time of 15:22.47.
While this will be his first season running high school cross country, it’s not his first time racing – and excelling – on dirt trails. He was third at the middle school state championships in 2022.
POTENTIAL CHALLENGERS
Last year, Gray became the first Portsmouth runner to win a state title in cross country. Could his former teammate Patrick Orbon make it two straight for the Patriots? It’s not too far-fetched.
Orbon earned first-team all-state honors last year by taking sixth overall with a PR of 16:00.8, a performance that moved him up 19 places from his sophomore campaign. The Portsmouth standout was one of four runners who broke 8:40 for the 3,000m this past outdoor season, placing third at the Class B Championships, just a few strides behind Gray and Mello, who went 1-2.
Colby Napolitano is the second Barrington harrier we believe belongs on this list. The Eagles senior was seventh at the State Meet last fall, where he posted a best of 16:03.36. Like Orbon, Napolitano showed significant improvement from his sophomore campaign, when he was 27th with a previous best of 16:52.05.
Look for Napolitano to be in that 15:30-15:40 range after a strong year on the track. He posted bests of 4:08.5 for the 1,500m and 8:58.22 for the 3,000m, the latter placing him eighth at the outdoor states. At the Quaker Invitational, Napolitano averaged 5:00-mile pace, running 15:35.56.
***
Yes, there is the potential to have three Hendricken runners among the top seven with junior Shepherd Butler. As a tenth-grader, the Hawks runner was eighth last year, clocking a best of 16:03.4. That placement matched what he did at the Class A Championships, showing his ability to perform well when the stakes are higher.
Butler was seventh in the 3,000m at the outdoor states and ran a best of 8:45.62 to finish third in the event at the Class A Championships. The BHS standout concluded his junior year by shocking the competition at the New England Championships where he ran a PR of 9:22.53.
DARK HORSES
Other runners that have the potential to make some noise are Hendricken’s Oliver Redmond and Hawks transfer Gavin Shipperley, Providence Country Day’s Leo Woodman and La Salle’s Will Souza, to name a few.
