Thursday, October 1, 2026
It was a banner fall for the cross-country teams at East Meadow High School.
The Lady Jets captured the Conference I regular-season and championship meet titles, with a mix of senior leadership, talented juniors, and a rising eighth-grader.
Junior Meghan Peysson paced the team in the Conference I meet, placing fourth with a time of 20:45.3 in tough running conditions over the 5K course at Bethpage State Park. Peysson bested that time by 42 seconds in the Section VIII/State Qualifier meet a week later.
Seniors Nilam Patel and Rachel Levy placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in the conference meet, and two more Lady Jets — junior Brittany Cutler and eighth-grader Alex Dagnell — were 10th and 11th.
Dangell ran big in the State Qualifier and was their top finisher in 19:58.3, a time good enough for 20th-overall. Peysson (23rd), Levy (29th), junior Taylor Edgecomb (33rd) and Cutler (40th) all cracked the Top 40.
Senior Sean Grady paced East Meadow’s boys’ team and was its No. 1 runner all year and one of six individual award winners. He was All-County and qualified for the state meet after finishing seventh in the State Qualifier with a time of 16:40.7. He was fourth in Conference I.
“Sean ran very tough all season,” said Jets coach Jim McGlynn, who is assisted by Mike Ringhauser. “He’s got a tremendous work ethic. He did about 750 miles over the summer.”
Grady helped the Jets finish the regular season with a 12-1 mark, with their only loss coming to powerhouse Port Washington.
Sean’s younger brother, Mike, a freshman, enjoyed a strong finish to the campaign by placing 17th in the State Qualifier with a personal best time of 17:02.8. He picked up All-County as well and was the only ninth-grader in Nassau to place in the Top 25.
Junior Jigar Gosalia ran well in the Conference I race and backed it up with a solid performance in the State Qualifier. He earned All-Division along with senior Andre Fox-Parenti and junior Dave Carey.
Junior Brad Kaufmann was a major part of the regular-season success but missed the stretch run with a knee injury. He was All-Conference and cracked the 17-minute mark on several occasions.
