South Side blazes trail to states

After second-place finishes in the regular season and Nassau County championship meet, the South Side girls’ country team emerged on top when a trip to the New York State public school championships was at stake.

Five of South Side’s seven runners achieved personal best times to pace the Lady Cyclones to the Nassau County Class B state qualifier meet team title for a second straight year. South Side edged out Manhasset and North Shore last Sunday morning on the trails of Bethpage State Park to qualify as a team for the state championships this weekend.

“A cross country team is not about one of two runners,” South Side coach Chris Webster said. “You have to have a solid five runners.”

Sophomore Olivia Duca shattered her personal record time by 25 seconds to win the state qualifier with a time of 19:25. A week earlier she placed second in the Nassau County Class B championship meet with a time of 19:49.

Junior Carly Woelfel was second overall at 19:43 a week after also finishing second in the counties. She will compete in the state championships for a third straight year.

“She has consistently been the top finisher on the team,” Webster said of Woelfel. “She is an amazing runner.”

Kaitlyn Mohr was also a major part of South Side’s strong showing with a 14th place overall finish on the heels of placing seventh at counties. Sophomore Avery Brull was the fourth South Side runner to cross the finish line followed by classmate Lizzy Quilty, who has shined in her first year competing in cross country.  Freshman Alexa Sitterly and first-year junior runner Theresa Kenny also blazed South Side’s trail to the title by passing some key runners throughout the wooded course.

South Side will compete among New York’s top runners in familiar territory at Sunken Meadow State Park in nearby Kings Park, where the team has held practice runs. The team set itself up for the big stage with a 12-1 regular season to finish second in Conference III behind only North Shore. The Lady Cyclones then finished second behind Manhasset at the county championships before edging the Indians by one point in the state qualifier.

“We had to face both teams in the same meet after they beat us so many probably expected us to finish third,” Webster said. “The team was really charged up.”

Cyclones finish 11-2

South Side boys cross country excelled this season amid stiff competition to finish third in Conference 3 with an 11-2 record. The Cyclones then finished third in the Class B championship meet.

Senior Daniel Finning led the charge for the Cyclones in the counties with a seventh place finish. Finning provided strong leadership throughout the season with his fellow co-captain, senior Jack McGowan.

Juniors Roberto Milan and Charles Ohanian will big focal points of next year’s team after earning All County honors. Webster expects a strong future for the program with much of his roster returning next fall.

“The majority of these guys are coming back,” he said. “I expect next year is going to be a big year.”