Coach Giles Vaughan Q&A
NEW MILFORD, Conn. — The 2021 New Milford girls cross country season is a story worth telling. Not only because of their immense success, but because of the team’s perseverance and determination to achieve their goals.
Led by coach Giles Vaughan, the Green Wave entered this past season with some lofty expectations. The varsity squad was spearheaded by a three-headed monster in Claire Daniels, Sydney Kelleher, and Maddie Sweeney.
When it was all said and done, coach Vaughan’s team may have actually surpassed their high goals. First, they secured the school’s first CIAC Class L title since 1997. Then, the girls capped off their dominant year by obtaining the Green Wave’s first-ever CIAC State Open cross country title.
Vaughan spoke with BVM Sports about what made this group so special, how they persevered through midseason adversity, where the graduating runners will compete in college, and what the future holds for the program.
Did you know going into the year that your team had so much potential?
“Yeah, I mean we’ve been working at this for a while. We knew we had a really talented team coming back led by some really incredible runners with Claire (Daniels), Maddie (Sweeney), and Sydney (Kelleher) who really stepped up as the number one when Claire got sick this year. Last year, we COVID threw some things off, but those guys still put a lot of people on notice with the times they were putting up.”
“Seeing them compete with some of the top schools last year was an eye-opener. So we knew we had talented kids, the question was could we put all the pieces together? We met preseason and made some pretty big goals and the girls saw how good they could be in a couple of our preseason runs. In cross country, you’re only as good as your summer work and were motivated to do something special this year.”
How was your team able to persevere when Claire went down with an illness?
“Probably the best way to explain it is that there was just a certain vibe about this group. It was a real quiet confidence about what we were doing. One of the things we talked about was turning expectations into opportunities, and that really relieved us of a lot of pressure. And to Claire’s credit, she really gutted out conference.”
“Once we found we’d be without her for Class L, she really took on a whole other leadership role. I was super proud of her. She instilled confidence that we could do it without her. It also helped that we were deep this year. Ellie Rainey stepped up and helped seal the deal for us at Class L. Even our number six runner, Kat Taborsak, ran really well at Class L. It was just neat to watch our depth take over when we needed it.”
What makes this particular team so special? Aside from the accomplishments.
“I’d say there are a couple different things that make this group so special. One of the biggest things is that they view practicing and training as hanging out with their friends and doing what they love. That’s huge. Also, and this follows what I just said, these girls are legitimately really good friends with each other.”
“Another thing is the humble leadership from our more experienced runners. Claire and Sydney for example did a great job keeping everyone focused and they did it in such a way that I was just really proud of. The way they all went out there and took care of business time and time again was another really special aspect about this group.”
With Claire and Maddie set to graduate, have they committed to run at a college?
“Yeah, so Claire and Maddie both committed. Claire’s going to Penn State and Maddie’s going to Uconn. I have a lot of college coaches contacting me right now about Sydney too, which is not surprising.”
What’s the outlook of the team going forward in your opinion?
“Yeah, one of the things I told the girls in our postseason debriefing is that we have a blueprint now on how to do this successfully that a lot of other teams are still looking for. To have that advantage of, alright we know if we do x, y, and z then we’ll be in a good position to be successful. There are variables of course, but I’ll take knowing over not knowing everytime.”
The 2021 New Milford girls cross country season is one that will be etched into the school’s history books. It’s a story of dedication, determination, and immense talent.
Coach Vaughan is proud of his team beyond words and rightfully so. He’s built a culture that breeds success since taking over as head coach and it’ll likely carry over into upcoming years.
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