Overall it was quite the busy day over at Van Cortlandt Park. It’s amazing how smoothly the meet’s run over there considering they have thousands over runners compete. I think it’s tough to gauge teams at this meet because there are so many teams that you know very little or nothing about and it’s such a big meet, but I’ll go through the races and give you my thoughts. First we’ll start with the girls:

Varsity F Race:Bronxville won the Varsity F race with 82 points. Caitlin Hudson finished second in 15;29.24. Another strong performance by one of the best teams in Section 1. The team continues to pack its runners extremely well. Today Hudson was the first one in for the team. This probably wasn’t the best race this team can run, but it still won. Bronxville has so much depth it’s incredible. It has two 8th graders – Amelia Phillips and Meredith Rizzo who look very promising. This team continues to get better.

“We have a nice pac, but we haven’t had everybody run together yet so that’s still in the future,” Bronxville coach Jim Mitchell said. Imagine when this team does have everybody run on the same day.

Varsity B: Brewster took 12th with 331 points. By far not one of its better days running. Arianna Bottalico ran well as she took 24th in 16:12.91, but the rest of the team struggled a little bit. There was over a minute spread between 1 and five and 70 places. That’s a little too much. Mahopac did not have its best race taking 15th. Its first runner didn’t come in until after the 16:30 mark. I wouldn’t look too much into this race for these two teams, but this is not their best race.

Varsity D: A team that has been slowly improving throughout the season has definitely been North Rockland. The team took third in its race. Heading into this season we knew the team had two top runners in Jackie Gamboli (11th, 15:46.64) and Katherine Hekker (14th, 15:57.0). Freshman Ellie Hekker (21st, 16:11.82) has stepped up this season. But the real improvement has come from the team’s fourth and fifth runners – Jessica Falcon (40th, 16:37.31) and Alexis Hatcher (48th, 16:49.02). The team could very well be the most improved team since the start of the season.

“We got to see where we are in terms of other teams in the county and where we are this season,” Gamboli said. “We tightened (the pack) a lot. We worked really hard on that.”

Jacqueline Pollack from Tappan Zee had a nice race taking 20th in 16:09.42.

Varsity E: This race had some really strong individual performances. Jessica Tobin from Clarkstown South continues to improve as she took fourth in 15:33.01. She beat out Mamaroneck’s Gina Talt (7th, 15:51.84). Tobin’s work ethic has definitely been paying off and she is slowly becoming one of the better and most consistent runners in the section.

“This year I’ve been more serious,” Tobin said. “I’ve pushed myself to improve and I’ve worked a lot harder.”

White Plains and Greeley took 9th and 10th in the team scoring. White Plains has a very solid team. Elizabeth Trelsta led White Plains taking 12th in 16:04.02. She was followed by Eleanor Trelstad (17th, 16:11.98). That’s a very solid 1-2 punch and they’re both freshman. If they continue to develop and improve White Plains will have a nice lead pack for the next few years.

For Greeley Daphne Tsoucas had a strong showing taking 18th in 16:12.21.

Eastern States: Suffern struggled to a 14th place finish in the premier race of the meet. Shelby Greany didn’t have her best race, but still finished 8th in 14:33.95 – still a very good time. This team is still good, it’s just tough to gauge when it has to go against some of the best teams in the country.

Boys:

Varsity C: North Rockland had a solid race taking third. It’s probably the best boys team in Section 1. The team didn’t have its best day of racing, but Nick Hughes still took 3rd in 13:03.71. Chris Carrington was next taking 13:19.07. Third is a solid finish, North Rockland could have placed better, but I still think this is the best team in Section 1 . Yesterday one minute separated 1-5, a little longer than it has been, but nothing to be too alarmed about. This team is still really good.

“We thought we’d go out and hammer it down,” Hughes said. “We really thought coming into here we were the number one team. If we came out on top we were definitely one of the stronger teams here and in this race.”

Greeley took 12th in the race, but the team was running without Henry Koster. Kyle Eager was the team’s first runner in placing 28th in 13:42.73. The team didn’t run last week so we’ll see if Koster runs at the league meet this week.

Rye’s Max Robinson had a strong showing taking 25th in 13:35.24.

Varsity A: Three teams from Class A running in this race. Fox Lane came out on top as the team finished in 9th with 300 points. Yorktown was 16th in 407 and Somers 18 in 452.

A couple of things with this race: Fox Lane is still short one runner, but the team is starting to look like the team that was predicted to win the section. Jamie Mitchell was actually the team’s first runner in taking 28th in 13:42.16. Cord Sgaglio took 30th in 13:44.91. That’s a solid time by both of those runners. But it was almost 90 seconds until the team’s fifth runner came in. Depth remains the concern.

If Manu Kumar hadn’t solidified his spot among the best runners in the section he should have after this meet. He took 10th in 13:17.20. He continues to improve and each race is a learning experience for him. But each meet he goes out and runs. He’s already had a great season, but next year he could have a special season.

“This meet’s great there’s so many people with all the competition,” Kumar said. “I knew this race was shorter so I wanted to start pretty fast.”

As for Somers, Rob Gorecki took 29th in 13:43.14. It’s tough to gauge where this team stands because this week Pat Hashmall went down with an asthma attack. It’s getting late in the season and each week something else seems to happen with this whether it be injury or something else. When the whole team runs it should be a good group, but you have to wonder when or if that’s going to happen.

Varsity B: Jack Hutton led Bronxville to 15th as he took 27th in 13:56.92. This is a fairly young team, with the exception of Hutton so it’s tough to gauge this team on this meet. It can be a little overwhelming if it’s your first time. With all the runners and how fast everyone goes out – a lot can go wrong.

Varsity D: Not the best run for Mike Hickey who took second in 12:35.92. He admitted to taking this race and a victory for granted. He went in thinking he would win this race pretty easily, but as he found out you can’t go in with that frame of mind. It’s good it happened here, but he’ll be fine at states and beyond. He still hasn’t started getting into the full groove of the season yet and he still took second in this race.

Fordham Prep took 12th in the team scoring. Mike Jennings looked good as he took 19th in 13:25.56. The team has a lot of experience and will be even better once the track season begins.

Harrison Quamily (45th, 13:53.48) led New Rochelle to a  16th place finish.

Varsity F: Scarsdale has officially solidified itself as the best team in Westchester. The team has three runners Ilkyu Lee (5th, 13:16.32), Sam Kohn (9th, 13:24.13) and Miles Kirwin (20th, 13:36.46) that will be near the top of the finish line at the county meet. The team has almost limited the time between 1-5 to about 65 seconds and if the team can do that it’s going to be tough to beat.

Varsity G: As usual its top two runners came through. James McDonugh is also starting to cement himself as a top runner in the section. As a sophomore he took 7th in 13:06.58. Not bad for the first time running at this meet. Joe Abed El Latif was next for the team taking 11th in 13:14.38. The rest of the team needs to close the two minute gap until its fifth runner came in.

“Honestly I didn’t think I’d get top 10 I was shooting for a top 40, somewhere around there,” McDonugh said. “I head there were like 300 kids and 50 schools. I was worried and I just wanted to run my best.”

Not only was it his first time running this meet, but his time on the course. That’s real good for a sophomore.

Brewster took 15th in the meet. Its first runner placed 59th. The team still struggles a little with inconsistency, but Brewster definitely has potential. This just didn’t seem like it was their day.

White Plains had a strong day taking 17th as Michael Dapic was the first runner in taking 29th in 13:32.98.

Alright, that’s all for now. It’s 1 a.m. and a rerun of Dirty Jobs is on. I wonder if he’ll be in a sewer this episode? We’ll see. Feel free to mention anything you feel I left out. Thanks for reading.

There was a course record set by Solomon Hailer of Sherwodd. He finished in 12:06.61. Make sure to check back later.