Varsity boys cross country take 1st league win
Sophomore Jalill Carter pours it on to outkick a Mattituck runner at the finish line.
On September 20, a warm fall day, the Shelter Island varsity boys and varsity girls cross country teams traveled to Indian Island County Park to compete in their first league meets of the season.
Shelter Island competes in cross country League 8 against Mattituck, Pierson, Port Jefferson, Ross and Southold.
The Indian Island course is 5 kilometers and serves as the home course for many East End teams, including Mattituck, Ross and Southold. The course is flat, sandy and somewhat soft under foot.
Mattituck hosted us at our first league meet and the boys raced first. Coach Toby Green prepared the boys before the race and by race time the Indians were intent and focused, knowing exactly what they needed to do.
The Indians delivered, winning by a score of 21-37.
Scoring for the Indians were junior Kal Lewis taking first with 17:10, sophomore Tyler Gulluscio taking third with 18:53 (PR — personal record), junior Jonas Kinsey taking fourth with 19:16, sophomore Junior Gil taking sixth with 19:38 (PR) and sophomore Nick Mamisashvili taking seventh with 20:55 (PR).
Sophomore Daniel Schulteis took eighth place with 21:12 (PR) and most of the other Indians ran well enough to improve or come very close to their personal records on the course. Sophomore Theo Olinkiewicz ran 22:06 (PR), freshman Pacey Cronin ran 22:43 (PR), sophomore Jason Green ran 23:30, sophomore Jalill Carter ran 23:50 (PR) and sophomore Matthew Strauss ran 24:53 (PR). Senior Michael Payano and junior Alberto Morales did not run. The boys league record is now 1-0.
The girls raced next.
Against a very strong Mattituck team, junior Emma Gallagher took fifth place with 22:48. With only five Lady Indians running they all scored for their team. Freshmen Ariana Carter and Olivia Overstreet ran 29:53 and 30:04, respectively, in their first ever cross country 5K race.
For each, this was an impressive 3-minute plus improvement over their last 5K road race in May. Seventh graders Kaitlyn Gulluscio and Sophie Clark also ran their first cross country 5K, an accomplishment in itself, with times of 45:38 and 45:42, respectively.
The girls team lost to Mattituck 47-16 so their league record is 0-1.
Next races for the teams are the Suffolk Coaches Invitational at Sunken Meadow on Saturday, September 29 and our second home meet, Tuesday, October 2 vs. Ross at the Shelter Island Country Club at 4 p.m.
A “Kids Fun Run” is scheduled immediately prior to the varsity home meet, so if you have or know any kids who want to run for fun, please reach out to Coach Bryan Knipfing or Athletic Director Todd Gulluscio at the school.
