Claire Dumont and Elsie Rey-de-Castro come from distance-running families, and the Hopewell Valley Central High duo are keeping the family tradition alive. Both are jogging their way into the winter track season on a treadmill of confidence after qualifying for the NJSIAA Cross Country Meet of Champions as wild cards.
Each plan on doing the one-mile and two-mile races and possibly the 800, and coach Aaron Oldfield is hoping to put together some strong relays in the distance medley and 4×800 to help increase their base entering the spring season.
While they now focus on track, they can also look back on outstanding cross country seasons that provided a strong foundation for moving forward. Then again, the whole distance running thing took root with them before this.
“They fill all those boxes of great athletes,” coach Aaron Oldfield said. “They’re committed, they’re dedicated, they’re focused, they make sacrifices. And the unique thing with both of them is Elsie’s mom was a very good runner and Claire had a brother and sister who were both very good runners.”
Rey-de-Castro grew up watching her mom, Jessica, go on recreational runs and compete in 5K races after running distance at Middlebury College.
“I wanted to go with her, and when I was eight years old I convinced her to let me run with her and that’s how it started,” the HVCHS freshman said. “I had my first 5K when I was nine. It went pretty good. I just remember hurting a lot in the last mile. I think I got 37th place.”
Dumont, a junior, watched elder brother and sister Alexander and Paige both reach the Meet of Champions.
“Growing up my family always did 5Ks and different races,” she said. “I guess I’m following my family’s lead. Both my sister and brother were distance runners, so I ended up being a distance runner.”
Dumont ran strictly track until last year, when she decided to run cross country after playing soccer. Returning as the team’s top runner, she was appreciative to have Rey-de-Castro and Sydney Young, another freshman, join her as heads of the pack.
“It was amazing, we used each other through the races and practices,” Dumont said. “We had other teammates still coming out to support us, which is awesome too. We definitely helped each other a lot.”
Elsie was glad to find Claire there when she arrived.
“I think she really helped me with pacing; she’s a really good pacer,” Rey-de-Castro said. “From following her, she runs very evenly during races. Whenever I follow her we pass a lot of people together. She’s really a quiet leader. You learn by watching her.”
Dumont laid a strong foundation during the regular season, finishing third in the Battle at Ocean County Park in a PR of 19:15, eighth in the Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel and fifth in the CVC Divisional championships. In the post-season she took 11th in the Mercer County championships, then dropped her times in all three races at Holmdel by finishing 12th in Central Jersey Group III (20:24), 25th in Group III states (20:22) and 47th in the Meet of Champions (19:56).
“Those early races were definitely a big confidence booster. Coming off them helped a lot,” Dumont said. “It was super exciting being (at the MOC). To be honest I never thought I could necessarily get to that point, but this year once I started dropping more times it became a possibility.”
In the end, her goal was met. “I just wanted to finish strong,” she said. “I was really happy with how I raced. Halfway through the race, I heard people saying ‘You’re 50 You’re 50!’ so that kind of became my goal to push and finish in that top 50.”
Rey-de-Castro finished 17 spots behind. She hoped to latch on to Dumont as she had done most of the season, but with the massive amount of runners, she lost her in the crowd. “in other meets it really helped just following her,” Elsie said. “In that meet I couldn’t find her.”
It was a stellar first season, nonetheless. In the Shore Coaches Freshman meet, Rey-de-Castro finished second overall in 13:54 (on a two-mile course), while Young was first in 13:06 in helping Hopewell to second as a team. Elsie was fourth in the Battle at Ocean County (13:06), 12th in the MCT (20:07), 11th in CJ III groups (20:26) and 21st in Group III (20:14)
“I was hoping to get to Groups,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d get to Meet of Champs and I thought if I did, it would be because the team got in and other people pulled the weight. I was really just happy to be there.”
She said she did not go hard enough in the first two miles, before pouring it on in the final third.
“A lot of people passed me, and then I passed them in the last mile,” she said.
Oldfield noted that Young, who finished seventh in the sectionals, had some health issues in the state meet that held her back. But he predicted a big future for the freshman. “She has no idea how good she’s going to be,” Oldfield said.
As for Dumont and Rey-de-Castro, the coach noted: “We knew with Claire returning, she was gonna be up there and be one of our better runners. We knew about Elsie and Sydney because we would watch Timberlane’s races. We knew there was a good freshman class. But to pencil in they’re gonna be in the Meet of Champions, that’s kind of hard to predict, especially the freshmen. Elsie’s not only a freshman, but you throw Holmdel in there, that’s not your typical course. It can be mentally and physically difficult.”
Both runners, however, find joy in running distances, no matter what turf their legs are pounding over. It’s part of their success. “It’s a great escape from my school work, and just any stress. I think happy thoughts, being able to be outside and running and with the team and everything,” Dumont said.
Rey-de-Castro added: “I really don’t think about anything. I reflect on my day and plan the future. When I run, it is my only time to be truly disconnected from stressors like school and technology. I feel way more connected to my body and mind when I run. It’s similar to meditating.”
Now it’s time to meditate on moving inside, where both athletes will try and hone their races for the spring season.
“We don’t always run our fastest times in winter track,” Dumont said. “But since I improved so much my cross country season, I feel like it’s a good time to just keep improving those times a bit. I’ll just focus on running the races to make sure I’m ready for spring track.”
Rey-de-Castro isn’t looking to set the world on fire this winter. She just wants to light the fuse.
“I think winter track is training,” she said. “I think I’m gonna get faster times in spring track because it’s later in the year and it’s not an indoor track. They are notorious for slower times. The air in there is hard to breathe in. I never ran it myself, but that’s what I heard, that it’s hard to breathe.”
But Rey-de-Castro and Dumont are a breath of fresh air in the overall HVCHS distance running picture.
Hopewell Valley cross country team after taking second in Shore Coaches Freshman race. Left to right: Reegan O'Connor, Natalie Maldonado, Elsa Allevik, coach Karen Walker, Sydney Young, Sophia Pellegrino, Elsie Rey-de-Castro.,
