Led by Lindsey Dodenhoff (24th, 19:17) and Rachel Ruggiero (27th, 19:22), the Sachem East Girls Cross Country team put a stamp on their season by placing 11th in the Nike Regional Cross Country Championships this past weekend.
They were the second best team from Long Island. Defending National Champions Fayetteville-Manlius and upstate power Shenendehowa finished one and two, respectively, to each earn an all-expense-paid trip to Portland, Oregon for the Nike National Championship. Shoreham-Wading River, led by individual winner Katherine Lee, placed third overall.
The outstanding finish at Regionals for the East Arrows was icing on the cake in a season that saw them win a League II Title, win the Villa Bears Invitational, place third at the Burnt Hills Invitational, place 9th at the Eastern States Championship, take second at the County Championship, and finish 13th at the New York State Federation Championship.
The top four scorers for the Arrows each ran lifetime bests on the Regional course at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. Dodenhoff and Ruggiero were supported by huge bests from Lauren Harris (20:32) and Kaitlyn Famiglietti (21:06). Caitlin O’Hehir (21:42) returned from injury to run just 20 seconds short of her lifetime best, and Shayna Arrigo (22:31) rounded out the East finish. The team’s scoring average of 20:24 is the fourth best ever by a Sachem East squad on the Bowdoin course.
Just one day after the race, discussion has already begun regarding next year’s possibilities. With only one Senior scorer graduating (Lauren Harris), with a crew of veterans demonstrating continued improvement (Margaret Atwood and Chelsea Benedict), and with a crew of XC “newbies” gaining another year of experience (Melissa Merone and Kaitlyn Famiglietti), could earning a bid to Nationals be possible? If you ask Coach Dan Schaub, he would give a qualified yes.
“We have a young group of developing distance runners for whom the sky is the limit. Just look at what Famiglietti did in her first season of XC!” Tempering his enthusiasm slightly, Schaub added, “We’ll have to see who is willing to do the work. Time will tell. But, a trip to XC Nationals is possible in 2017.”
