Calhoun runners eye biggest prize

This stretch of greatness by Calhoun’s boys’ cross-country team has just one hurdle left – bring home to Merrick a first-ever state championship. 

It won’t be easy but the appropriately named Colts are on quite a gallop after winning their third straight Nassau County Class 2 championship on Oct. 29, then qualifying last Saturday as the Section 8 champion for participation in the state tournament in Syracuse.

The state championship meet takes place this Saturday with Calhoun seeded fifth. 

“Our goal now is to win states,’’ said coach David Hendler, finishing his 29th season at the helm.

Their dominance at the county championships was epic as seven runners notched All-County honors (top 25). Because only the top five scores are recorded for team title, the Colts’ last two runners didn’t even count in the final score.

Their lead performer is junior Logan Schaeffler, who won the county race with 17 seconds to spare and then captured the state qualifier with similar ease on the 5K Bethpage State Park course. 

Schaeffler is one of the few underclassmen on the senior-laden team and has been on all three county-title Calhoun clubs. Last year, Schaeffler finished 7th in the state qualifier meet at Bethpage as the club also made it as a full team to states. 

“He’s been a stud since his freshman year,’’ Hendler said. “He hates to lose and is tough as nails.” 

Schaeffler also is rated as a top-notch student. “He does everything well,’’ said Hendler, a math/computer teacher at Calhoun. 

Schaeffler believes winning it all in Syracuse is not out of the realm, even if Calhoun has never pulled the feat. 

“It’s up there,’’ Schaeffler said when asked Calhoun’s chances. “It’s pretty nice to go two straight years. It’s definitely about going hard on those hills. It’s going to be a factor.’’

Schaeffler felt his performance at counties (15:50.73) was “pretty average’’ so he may be saving his best work for upstate.

Calhoun’s other six stars, all seniors, can’t be dismissed either. The next four top finishers at counties that measured in the final team score were William Hughes (3), Jonathan Sferratore (6), Gavin Giordano (13) and Matthew Belmonte (16.) For good measure, Michael Gunn (21) and Jeremy Sirof (23) raced to a top-25 finish, earning All-County honors. This is as strong a team and as strong a three-year run as Hendler has ever seen.

“We’ve had strong teams in the past,’’ Handler said. “But it’s up there.’’

When the coach looks back at this recent burst, he points to a vibrant core of leadership from captains that have revolved each year. From the 2021 title squad, he lost two standouts in John Schwab and Alex Rosario.

In 2022, the captains are Giordano. Sferratore and Belmonte.

“The captains are just doing a really good job of training younger kids,’’ Hendler said. “So they know they have to do their distance, know to run on Sundays. So they’re doing the right things.’’

One of Hendler’s largest challenges will be in 2023 when he loses his starry trove of seniors.

 “The team will be young next year, mostly sophomores, but thanks to the captains, the kids are prepared to do the work to be successful,’’ he said.