Clarke runs second in county meet

The Clarke boys’ cross-country team followed up a strong regular season on Oct. 28 when it placed second in the Nassau Class III Championships at Bethpage State Park.

The runner-up finish was the best in school history for the Rams. For the entire season, Clarke finished second in both its conference and division while multiple runners set personal records in both the 2.5 mile and 5,000 meter races.

“We had a great season and everything came down to a very small point differential,” coach Brian Doxey said. “One of our league meets was a tie that came down to the sixth man which we won and the next week was a three-way tie. I would just drill into the runners that every point matters and you can’t just settle, you have to be kicking for the whole entire race.”

In the county championship, Oyster Bay had been such a dominant force that second place was always the goal for the Rams and anything better would be huge upset.

“Second place was wide open to anybody, we just needed to focus on beating as many people as possible,” Doxey said. “Sure enough we grabbed second by two points, which is insane. Insane. Fourth place was just five Points behind us, which is even more incredible. Five points separating second through fourth really proved that every point that matters.”

Clarke had a handful of really good runners this fall and was anchored by All-County honorees Ryan Melkun and Noah Saenz, who finished ninth and 10th in the county championship. Both followed with solid showings at last Saturday’s State Qualifier at Bethpage, with Melkun, a junior, crossing the line 21st and Saenz, a sophomore, 29th.

“Having Ryan and Noah as our one-two punch helped us out tremendously,” Doxey said. “There really was no clear one between the two, they've been so close all season. If anything, I think Ryan might have a slight edge with winning more, but it's not by much. Noah was always right on his tail.”

Melkun’s time at the State Qualifer was 17-minutes, 46.37-seconds, and Saenz finished the course in 18.20.9.

Constantine Pozapalidis (23rd at counties), Jacob Soriano (28th), and Nicholas Lindo were All-Conference, giving Clarke a very strong top five. Lindo, who did not compete in the county championships, had the slacked picked up by his brother Sebastian who turned out to be a big contributor, finishing 33rd and picking up crucial points.

“[Pozapalidis, Soriano, and Lindo] are always battling throughout every race,” Doxey said. “Having our three, four, and five constantly finish races as well as they did, that’s what made us so successful this year. It was what really mattered in those tight scoring meets.

Doxey is very optimistic about next season. Many of his key runners will be returning in 2024 while competition across the county is losing a ton of production. Keep an eye out for the Rams in 2024.