North Shore continues excellence

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Jogging through the hilly Promenade area of Glen Head, one can nearly always find a member of the widely recognized North Shore girls’ cross-country program.

North Shore is fresh off of a 2017 season where it’s consecutive cross-country meet regular season wins extends to a baffling 128 in a row, and capturing it’s 11th consecutive Nassau County championship. Despite the repeat success, the “secret sauce” stays very much constant: a rigorous, yet different training style that has bred success for the Lady Vikings for years now.

“The model of training is different. We don’t do interval training,” head coach Neal Levy said. “Hills and strides is how we train… Three days a week we’re doing runs through hills, and the other days on flat ground.”

North Shore has collected 24 county championships, over the cross-country, winter and spring track seasons, including eleven consecutive county championships (2007-2017) and two state titles (2010/2011) in cross-country. In those years, the program has graduated some stellar talent, including but not limited to Dartmouth’s Diana Vizza (2x NYS Champion and Indoor 5000m record holder), Georgetown/Oregon’s Samantha Nadel (State Champion in cross-country and finished top five nationally in 3,200m and 3000m and 2x HS champion in the mile at the Millrose Games), and Oregon’s Brianna Nerud (National HS record holder in 3000m steeple chase).

However, the accolades aren’t what motivate Levy or the program. “It’s not about winning, we’re looking for the high achievers with the mindset to work hard,” Levy said. “For the kids that want to reach to do the best they can, that’s what we take pride in.”

That hard work ethic is cultivated over the course of the entire year, as Levy usually has the same group for all three athletic seasons. The unique training style of North Shore had grown over the years from a regimen strictly for summer running to a constant in Levy’s overall system. This move came around the time of the 2010/11 Nike Cross Nationals where North Shore qualified as the only girls team from Long Island.

As for this year, North Shore has a completely fresh squad that looks to put its own name up there with the alumni. “We have a 100% turnover this year,” Levy said.

The Lady Vikings are a diverse unit this year, taking from all grade levels to continue their storied run. Senior Killian Doyle, juniors Caroline Reiner, Emma Rivera and Isabella Strajanekova, sophomores Maddy DePietro, Carolyn Doyle, Julia Carroll, Hannah Bradford and Nicole Schneider, freshmen Lizzy Lockwood, Arianna Bordone, Pamela Salas and Sophie Rosencrans, and eight graders Fiona Reaganand Sarah Hoell are some of the key contributors to a team that achieves such fantastic group success from various individual’s work ethic and commitment.

A true program, Levy lauded the efforts of 13-year middle school coach Donna Jean Welch for her preparation of the student-athletes prior to varsity. “(Welch) preps them extremely well,” Levy said. “She prepares them at the varsity level in middle school, and I prep them at the college level when they get to varsity.”

But it’s not all about the skill or talent level, Levy says. “I would rather have the girl that has the best mentality to work hard for her teammates and the program than the best talent,” Levy says. “We prepare an environment to build confidence and work ethic, and not just in running, but for life too.”