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Partly Cloudy Spartans continue run of success
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Sophomore Tara McElroy finished fifth in the conference meet.
Claudio Papapietro/Herald
Valley Stream North’s cross-country teams combined to win 25 league meets and each had two runners earn All-Conference honors this fall.
The boys had four of the top 23 finishers in the Conference IV championship race at Bethpage State Park on Oct. 31, including senior Anthony Russello who placed third with a time of 17-minutes, 12.7-seconds on the 5K course. The Spartans, 13-1 in league meets during the regular season, ran third in the team standings behind Seaford and Oyster Bay.
Russello just missed qualifying for the state meet, finishing sixth in Class B at the county meet/state qualifier on Nov. 7 in 16:57. “Anthony had a nice year but he was disappointed about not making states,” North coach Tom Boyens said. “Anyone who runs under 17 minutes like he did in the county meet is an elite runner.”
Sophomore Zachary Bugge came through with a big performance in the conference meet, finishing 11th in 18:24.7 to earn All-Conference along with Russello. “Zach is the favorite to step into the top spot next year,” Boyens said.
Juniors John Peterson (18:53.4) and Visal Mohanan (19:12.7) placed 20th and 23rd, respectively, and picked up All-Division recognition. Mohanan was the team’s second finisher in the county meet behind Russello with a 70-second improvement from the previous week. “John and Visal dedicated their summers to becoming better,” Boyens said. “John did about 500 miles and was our most improved and Visal made big strides late in the year. It’s nice to see.”
Sophomore Thomas Bardabelias rounded out the scoring for North in the conference meet and was All-Division. Not far behind were juniors Michael Dauber and Michael Garcia.
As for the Lady Spartans, they went 12-2 in league meets and finished fifth in the Conference IV race with a sophomore-dominant roster. “The girls have a bright future,” Boyens said. “I expect them to make a push for the conference championship next year.”
Captain Tara McElroy led the way in the conference meet, placing fifth in 21:10.0, and fellow sophomore Shanice Johnson was eighth in 21:31.3. Both were All-Conference. Johnson came back and pumped out a huge county race (20:53) to qualify for the state meet, this after going to states last spring in the 200. “Shanice is as versatile as anyone could be,” Boyens said.
Victoria Ennab and Jaslyn Fan, two more sophomores, were 22nd and 32nd, respectively, in the conference meet and shaved more than 30 seconds off their times at the county race. Elyse Zappia, another 10th-grader, was the team’s fifth scorer in the conference meet.
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