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Boys, girls cross country teams lead at Cedar Point Park

The boys at the start of the race. (Credit: Francesca Frasco)
The boys at the start of the race. (Credit: Francesca Frasco)

The Shelter Island varsity boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Cedar Point County Park on Tuesday for a crossover meet hosted by East Hampton. The crossover meet is a new format that Suffolk County is experimenting with this year where anywhere from two to many teams compete against one another across division and class lines. It gives the East End schools a chance to run close to home and not have to travel way up Island. The crossovers do not count toward a team’s record. Some schools run them hard, perhaps for bragging rights against their neighbors, some as a tough workout, others treat the format as a chance to do a moderate or easy workout. 

The varsity boys and girls teams of Pierson, Ross and Shelter Island attended East Hampton’s crossover. The boys raced first on the 2.8 mile course starting in a recreation area and coursing its way through trails in a pine barrens forest. The course then climbs its way to a beautiful vista, a bluff which parallels and overlooks Gardiners Bay for half a mile before the course descends back down through the campground area to the finish line. This was our first time running this course.

The Shelter Island boys team captured first place, led by the scoring of freshman Kal Lewis (15:25) in first place, junior Joshua Green (15:38) in third, senior Will Garrison (16:10) in fourth, freshman Jonas Kinsey (17:02) in sixth and 8th grader Domingo Gil Jr. (17:04) in seventh. The remaining Indians ran great times as follows: sophomore Michael Payano (17:16), 8th grader Tyler Gulluscio (17:48), junior Jack Lang (18:05), freshman Walter Richards (18:57), 8th grader Brandon Payano (20:02), sophomore Roi Carbajal (20:38) and 7th grader Pacey Cronin who passed two rivals in the last half mile for a time of 21:18.

The girls at the start of the race.  (Credit: Francesca Frasco)
The girls at the start of the race. (Credit: Francesca Frasco)

The girls race started five minutes behind the boys race. In a more closely contested race where the first through third place teams were only separated by five points, the Shelter Island girls team also earned first place. Scoring for the lady Indians were junior Lindsey Gallagher (17:58) in first place, sophomore Lily Garrison (20:13) in fourth, 7th grader Emma Martinez Majdisova (22:35) in eighth, freshman Lauren Gurney (24:26) in 13th and junior Isabella Sherman (25:45) in 17th. The remaining lady Indians, junior Caitlin Binder (25:56) and freshman Abigail Kotula (31:13) complemented the team’s performance.

Later this week, the varsity boys and girls teams will be traveling to Rhode Island on Saturday, October 15, to race in the Brown University Cross Country High School Invitational. This event attracts over 2,000 varsity high school athletes competing from all over New England. It will be the first time our teams are running it, and both our teams have been looking forward to it since last season.

On Tuesday, October 18, our League Championship boys and girls team titles are on the line. We will be racing on our home course at the Shelter Island Country Club. The girls will be racing Pierson at 4 p.m., and the boys will be racing Port Jefferson at 4:30 p.m. If you are available, please come up to the Goat and cheer our teams on as we defend our titles!