Lady Cyclones cap big year

After going 13-0 in regular-season meets to capture a division title, South Side finished runner-up in the Nassau Conference III girls’ cross-country championship meet at Bethpage State Park by a slim margin. The Lady Cyclones had four runners in the Top 20, while first-place Lynbrook had five.

“It was a great year with a very young team,” South Side coach Chris Webster said. “We won some close meets.”

A pair of newcomers, junior Cathryn Ryan and freshman Lauren McDonough, set the pace for the Lady Cyclones and picked up All-Conference accolades in the process. They finished third and fourth, respectively, in practically the same time (21:10.4 and 21:10.9) in the conference meet.

“Cathryn has run track for a few years and decided to join cross-country,” Webster said. “She adjusted without any problems and ran consistently well all year.”

McDonough followed the conference meet with a personal-best 20:44.0 in the Section VIII championships/state qualifier on Nov. 6. “She’s only just begun,” Webster said. “Lauren has a lot of natural talent and it’s a pretty big deal when a freshman steps up the way she did in the county meet.”

South Side also had four All-Division runners: Sophomore Alannah O’Rourke, who placed 17th in the conference, junior Jackie Maughan, who was 19th, senior Jamie Matos, who was 27th, and freshman Miranda D’Accordo, who finished 28th.

Maughan enjoyed a breakthrough conference race, cutting two minutes off her average time, and Webster credited Matos and fellow senior captain Liz Textor with providing outstanding leadership and organizing most off-season workouts.

Williams, Culkin pace boys' team
On the boys’ side, senior Randy Williams (12th in Conference III) and junior Sean Culkin (14th) led the Cyclones to a 10-win regular season and a fourth-place finish in the conference meet behind Manhasset, Hewlett and Great Neck North.

After falling one spot short of All-Conference honors in 2009, Williams made sure that wasn’t the case this fall. He crossed the line in 18:03.8, more than 10 seconds ahead of the cutoff for All-Conference. Culkin also received the honor with a time of 18:09.0.

Sophomores Carlos Barycki, freshman Will Duggan and senior Christian Lethbridge rounded out the top five for the Cyclones. Barycki and fellow sophomore Robert Aldana picked up All-Division honors.

“The boys were part of a really tough conference,” Webster said. “We had a good amount of talent and most of the kids will be back next year.”