Cross Country: Blue Waves post impressive performance at divisions
The Riverhead Blue Waves boys cross country team turned in an impressive performance from all of its runners on Tuesday afternoon at the Section XI Division Championship at Sunken Meadow State Park. With six of its seven runners turning in personal-best times, Riverhead placed 9th out of 23 teams in the team qualifier race.
The entire Blue Waves team will compete on Nov. 5 in the State Qualifier at Sunken Meadow. The division championship consisted of a championship race, which included the top teams from each league, a team qualifier race and an individual championship race.
Riverhead ‘s Jeremy Warner came in 23rd in the team qualifier in 18 minutes, 53.60 seconds, followed by teammates Ryan Hubbard in 36th (19:09), Travis Wooten in 46th (19:24), Kevin Williams in 70th (19:46.7), Michael Beierle in 89th (20:08.7), and Anthony Galvin in 99th (20:23.4). All six had a personal-record time. Rob Mullen was 124th in 21:08.
“I’m very happy with our performance,” Riverhead coach Pat Burke said. “We wound up third in our league. All the kids worked hard. I’m very pleased.”
Southold ‘s Sal Manno raced in the team qualifier and finished 27th in 18:57.5, which placed him 15th among Division IV runners. The First Settlers’ Griffin Quist was 43rd among Division IV runners in 20:52.70 followed by Matthew Reilly in 22:34.10 (62nd) and Ryan Hanrahan in 22:35.30 (63rd).
Mattituck ‘s Corey Zlatniski finished 50th in the team qualifier race in a time of 19:32, good enough for 20th in Division IV. In the Division IV results, the Tuckers’ John Hamilton came in 23rd at 19:39, Casey Grathwohl was 27th in 19:42, Jesse Grathwohl was 50th in 21:20 and Chris Baglivi was 52nd in 21:33.
“We ran well,” Mattituck coach Julianne Milliman said. “I’m very happy.”
The entire Mattituck team will take part in the State Qualifier because the Tuckers placed in the top six in Suffolk County Class C. In the girls championship, Southold competed as a team in the championship race, placing 21st. Among Division IV teams Southold placed fourth.
Southold ‘s Ivy Croteau came in 73rd in the team championship in 22:21.7, placing her 9th in Division IV. The First Settlers’ Colette Steele was 17th in Division IV in 23:21.3 followed by Shelby Pickerell in 23:58.60 (24th), Meghan Kelley in 24:54.20 (33rd) and Jennifer Roslak in 26:03.10 (45th).
Riverhead ‘s Sarah Governale finished 20th in the Suffolk Division II race in a personal-record time of 23:02. Her teammate Rachel Harrison-Smith was 62nd in 24:46, also a personal record.
The Blue Waves’ Juliana Marcucci was sick and didn’t run, but she still made the State Qualifier on Nov. 5 by running the qualifying time of 21:15 earlier in the season.
“Things are very positive with the girls,” Burke said. “They are hitting their numbers.”
The entire Mattituck girls team will also take part in the State Qualifier because they placed among the top six teams in Suffolk County Class C.
Mattituck coach Jean Mahoney called the divisional, “another opportunity to run Sunken Meadow, and to run against the powerhouse teams.”
Savanna Campbell came in 39th for the Tuckers in the Suffolk Division IV race in 25:39. Mattituck ‘s Megan Finn ran a 25:46 and was 41st, Danielle Knuth was 54th with a 27:38, Halley Kujawski was 57th in 28:07, Yuliya Palianok was 59th in 28:23, and Melissa Barry was 66th in 31:56. Mahoney said that Barry, who has battled injuries all season, “is the spirit of the team. She exemplifies what the kids can do.”
“Our times were OK,” Mahoney said. “We run to have a good time.”
Mahoney said that the Tuckers’ All-League runner Sara Paparatto, who didn’t compete in the division race, may take part in the State Qualifier.
