It was the first chance to lace up the spikes and let it rip. The first opportunity to gauge the gains from nine months of training and racing and overall athletic development.
This past Saturday, the Sachem East girls XC team held its annual RGBW (Red, Gold, Black, and White) scrimmage on the Robert McNeill 1.5 mile Cross Country Course at Sachem East.
Dressed in team colors and sporting painted faces and color coordinated accessories (like the Incredibles shirts and face masks sported by the Red team), varsity captains Alana Laino, Jen Campbell, Jamie Fleming, and Cortney Evola were each tasked with preparing and leading their respective teams: reviewing warm-up procedures, meet scoring, race strategies, and various other meet day tasks.
Meanwhile, parents did their part, prepping the food and drinks, setting up a wonderful post-race breakfast that celebrates the start of the competitive season. The red-velvet cake pops provided by the Murphys were a particular treat.
At 9:00 a.m. sharp, the starting commands were given, the whistle was blown, and the race was on. Junior Alex DeCicco eased into the lead, gradually pulling away from the rest of the field to win in 9 minutes 19 seconds, No. 2 all-time behind Rachel Paul’s 9:01 recorded in 2011 (Paul now competes for Georgetown University where she helped her team to a fifth place finish at the 2013 NCAA Championships; they are currently ranked No. 3 in NCAA coaches polls).
Not long after DeCicco, many other Sachem harriers were creating some history of their own as three other runners broke the elite 10 minute mark (a new East record), and a phenomenal 14 runners were under 11 minutes (another East record).
Special “kudos” go to the three athletes that made huge improvements over their finishes of the previous year: Tiffany Ly cut 1 minute 6 seconds off her time, Carly Napoli 1 minute 14 seconds, and Sam DiBennedetto improved by 1 minute and 44 seconds.
However, to the victor goes the spoils, and on this day the Red team (led by Ciara Murphy’s second place finish) grabbed the win with 44 points. The other scorers for Red were Rachel Ruggiero, Karli Murphy, Alanna Laino, and Jess Livingston, while Angela Calabrese contributed to the scoring through displacement. The White team was 2nd (51 points), followed by Black (53,) and then Gold (63) in the most competitive (and fastest) RGBW ever. Head Coach Dan Schaub was beaming like a proud parent.