Shelter Island cross country teams run with county’s elite

On Tuesday, October 27, the Shelter Island School boys and girls cross country teams competed in the Suffolk‎ County division championships at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park. The division championships are 5K races that serve as a mandatory prerequisite to compete in the county championships.

Because both the boys and girls teams won their league championships, they were entered into the races with the top 20 teams in Suffolk County. Competing against the elite teams from Class C and D, also known as Division 4, the boys earned a third place finish. Eighth grader Kal Lewis took second place only 6 seconds behind Southampton’s top runner with a time of 17:24, a new personal record (“PR‎”).

Also scoring for the Indians were junior Will Garrison placing 9th (18:49 PR), sophomore Joshua Green (19:25), senior Jack Kimmelmann (19:48) and 8th grader Jonas Kinsey (20:38 PR). The remaining Indians completing the championship race were freshman Michael Payano (21:42) and sophomore Jack Lang (24:16).

The girls also earned a third place finish competing against the top teams from Class C and D.  Scoring for the Indians were sophomore Lindsey Gallagher taking third place with a PR of 20:40, sophomore Caitlin Binder taking eighth‎ (22:02), 8th grader Emma Gallagher taking 10th (22:34), sophomore Francesca Frasco (24:05 PR) and freshman Elizabeth Cummings (24:18 PR). The remaining Indians finishing the championship race were freshman Lily Garrison (24:33 PR) and junior Olivia Yeaman (28:43).

The next race the Indians competed in was the junior varsity races. Junior Darien Hunter took second place in Division 4 with a PR of 20:13 and 8th grader Liam Adipietro took ninth place (21:50 PR). Eighth grader Walter Richards ran a PR with a time of 23:34 and 7th grader Tyler Gulluscio ran 24:22.

The remaining lady Indians competed in the junior varsity race as well. Eighth grader Lauren Gurney ran a 27:48 PR taking third place in Division 4 and freshman Justine Karen ran a 29:20 PR taking fifth.

As we rapidly approach the season’s end, the next competition is the county championship race on Friday, November 6. This is the race that we most look forward to each year. Each team will be running against Class D schools for the Class D title. The county championships also serve as the state qualifiers, meaning the top team in each class qualifies to compete as a team in the state championships, which will be held in Monroe-Woodbury this year.

In addition, the top five individuals in each class not on the county championship team will also qualify to compete in the state championships.