Cross country team racing to the state championships

On Halloween the Shelter Island boys and girls cross country teams traveled to Sunken Meadow State Park for the Section XI State Qualifiers. They came away with a solid second place behind Pierson, narrowly missing the Class D team first place prize by a mere three points.

But one Island racer brought home a championship.

The race for the Class D Girls champion came down to a tightly contested race between Shelter Island’s freshman Lindsay Gallagher, Pierson’s Hannah Jungck and Stony Brook’s Miranda Harrigan. The three girls were shoulder to shoulder approaching a steel bridge, which marks 350 meters to the tape. Gallagher took a one meter lead exiting the bridge while Jungck and Harrigan drafted her and waited to make their moves.

With less than 200 meters to the finish, Harrigan trailed off but Jungck made her move, passing Gallagher, and gaining a 5 meter lead. With less than 150 meters to the finish line, Gallagher showed her strength, passing Jungck and capturing the Class D Girls Champion title by a 3 second margin over Jungck for a time of 21:05.

Also scoring were Emma Gallagher (21:36) in fourth place, freshman Caitlin Binder (21:58) sixth, freshman Francesca Frasco (24:07) twelfth and 8th grader Elizabeth Cummings (24:49) in 13th place.

Every athlete scored a new PR. The remaining Islanders, 8th grader Lily Garrison (25:40) took more than a minute off her previous Meadow 5K PR and sophomore Olivia Yeaman (27:55) took more than 2.5 minutes off her previous Meadow 5K best.

At the Qualifiers, the top team from each class and the top five individuals not on the winning team go to the State Cross Country Championship. Four Shelter Island girls (Lindsey Gallagher, Emma Gallagher, Binder and Frasco) made the cut and will be competing at the New York State Public High School State Championship in Canton, New York Saturday, November 8.

All our athletes dug deep when it counted and scored new personal records (PRs). The boys team came in second place behind Southold. Seventh grader Kal Lewis (19:17) took fourth place besting this year’s Shelter Island boys time on the Meadow 5K course. Junior Jack Kimmelmann (19:42) took sixth, senior Sawyer Clark (19:46) seventh, freshman Joshua Green (19:47) eighth and 7th grader Jonas Kinsey (21:51) 17th.

The remaining Islanders, 7th grader Liam Adipietro (21:53), and 8th grader Michael Payano (22:50), saved their best for last, taking at least 20 seconds off their previous PRs. Four Island boys — Lewis, Kimmelmann, Clark and Green — qualified and will be competing at the state championship.

On Tuesday, October 21, the cross country teams traveled to Sunken Meadow  for the Suffolk County Section XI Division Cross Country Championships. Both the boys’ team and girls’ team competed in the 5K race.

The girls finished third in their division, which included Class C and D schools, behind Mattituck and Pierson. Freshman Lindsey Gallagher (21:27) took sixth place, 7th grader Emma Gallagher (21:44) took seventh place and Binder (21:58) took ninth place. The remaining scorers for the Island were Frasco (24:25) and Cummings (25:12). Garrison and Yeaman recorded times of 27:18 and 30:21, respectively.

The Shelter Island boys team finished fifth in their division. Scoring for the Island were Lewis (19:19), Kimmelmann (19:50), Green (19:57), Clark (20:29), and Kinsey (22:35). Adipietro and Payano ran 22:37 and 23:34, respectively.

Here’s wishing all our athletes the best of luck at Canton for the state championships this Saturday, November 8.