State qualifiers pace Calhoun

After repeating her championship finishes in the Nassau County Class I and Section VIII Class A State Qualifier cross-country races, Calhoun junior Grace Moore competed in New York State meet last Saturday at SUNY-Canton — not far from the Canadian border.

Moore, who had an All-State finish (17th place) in 2013, placed 75 th under rough weather and course conditions.

“It was 30 degrees, and the course was muddy,” coach Patrick Duggan said. “I can’t say enough about how competitive Grace is. She pushes herself constantly and is a mentally tough runner. When she kicks into gear, it’s very tough to answer her.”

Moore topped a large field Nov. 1 in the State Qualifier under poor weather conditions at Bethpage State Park. She was an easy winner by more than half-a-minute with a time of 19-minutes, 25.61 seconds. Runner-up Lucy Hurt, a freshman from Port Washington, finished in 20:04.61.

Moore helped Calhoun to a 13-1 regular-season finish in Conference 2, as well as a fourth-place finish in Nassau Class I. She won the county championship race Oct. 25 with a time of 19:40.57, taking the lead from Syosset freshman Reilly Siebert with about a mile remaining.

The Lady Colts also got big performances from freshman Nadya Resnick, sophomore Christina Garbarin, and junior Emma Joseph. All three earned All-County honors by finishing in the top 20. Resnick was 12th, Garbarin 17th, and Joseph 18th. They also finished 11th, 21st, and 13th, respectively, in the State Qualifier.