What started five months ago in the heat and humidity of Long Island came to a conclusion this weekend in the snow and ice of upstate NY.
The Sachem East Girls Cross Country team wrapped up a historic season by placing 8th at Nike Cross Country Regionals this past Saturday, their best finish in program history. The top 2 teams in the race, Fayetteville-Manlius and Saratoga Springs, both earned all expense paid trips to Oregon for next week’s National Cross Country Championship sponsored by Nike, and the 3rd place team, Shenendehowa, has also received an at-large bid. A total of 22 teams from across the country, 2 from each of the 9 regions and an additional 4 at-large teams, will be flown out to Oregon along with the top 5 individuals from each region.
Alex DeCicco had another great race in a season of great races placing 15th with a time of 19:14, crossing the line as the top finisher from Long Island. Val Romero (44th-19:53), Rachel Ruggiero (82nd-20:40), Jill Manfredi (85th-20:46), KarlyiMurphy (96th-21:10), Ciara Murphy (120th-21:55), and Caitlin O’Hehir (121st-21:56) all contributed to the 8th place team finish, the highest finish of any Long Island team.
The East Arrows ignored the slippery, snowy, muddy, wet, and cold conditions on the Bowdoin Park Course in upstate Wappingers Falls.
“The kids ran great!” exclaimed an obviously elated Coach Schaub. “They worked hard as a team all season, and today they raced as a team! Total focus on the task at hand.”
Schaub was particularly impressed by the performance of Jill Manfredi, whose gutsy race helped make up for the loss of Tiffany Ly who was injured at the NY State Champs Meet. “Jilly picked a good day to run the best race of her life! She is a shining example to her teammates of faith and trust in the process.”
In addition to the 8th place finish in the Championship race, the East Arrows demonstrated team depth by fielding a team in the New York/Northeast Open race made up of 32 squads that did not qualify for the Championship race. Kaitlin Veigl led that squad to a 13th place team finish, along with Shayna Arrigo, Rachel Semetsis, Brooke Howell, Cortney Evola, Lauren Harris, and Jaimie Fleming. The squad topped nearly 20 different programs from all over NY and the rest of the Northeast.
Team honors this season include victories at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational and the Brown Invitational, the first League Championship in program history, the first Suffolk County Championship in program history, a 6th place finish at the New York State Championships, and finally this 8th place finish at the Nike Regionals.
The East Arrows end the season rated as the top Girls Cross Country team on Long Island according to Milesplit New York.
-Submitted by Sachem East coaching staff