Wednesday, October 7, 2026
The North Shore boys’ cross-country team has finally caught up with the girls.
On Oct. 29 at Bethpage State Park, both Vikings’ running squads captured the Class III Nassau County championships.
For the girls it was old hat. The Neal Levy-coached girls have won 16 of the last 17 county titles – an achievement only surpassed by its stunning unbeaten league-meet record of 195-0. The Vikings girls haven’t lost a meet since 2006.
The boys’ recent brilliance is new, having won two of the last three county titles. The North Shore boys have always been one of the school’s most successful teams but normally overshadowed by the girl dynasty.
They are second fiddle no longer.
“It’s a big accomplishment,’’ North Shore boys coach Jason Millard said. “We knew we had a chance but it could be us or Oyster Bay. We were pretty close.’’
Five of the boys made All-County by placing in the top 25. (The best five times are added up to determine the team champion).
North Shore was led by newcomer Robby Levy, a junior who traversed the 5K course in 16:35.31. He ran the event alongside teammate and third-place finisher, Samuel Sturge.
Their other All-County finishers were junior Liam Brady (11th place) senior Aidan Attina (19) and senior Ethan Fichtl (25).
“They were dedicated, consistent, hard-working,’’ Millard said. “They run lots of long intervals with hillwork.’’
Indeed, perhaps the key to North Shore’s cross-county prosperity is training on the steep hills found all over Sea Cliff-Glen Head.
The girls run the promenade at Glen Head and rugged Lauren Hill in Sea Cliff. Lauren Hill might as well be renamed Levy Hill.
“Those are the two benchmarks for our program for 20 years,’’ Neal Levy said. “It’s like “Rocky”. Running that hill so many times, we have so many great memories over the years. All the great runners who have trained there, it’s a tradition of excellence.’’
Levy saw six of his girls make All-County, which required a top 25 finish. His top three girls ran together and they finished 4-5-6 - junior Bella Martocci, junior Sophia Marchioli, freshman Joanna Kenney. Their times ranged within 3.6 seconds, topped by Martocci’s 20:49.03-20.
Finishing 10th was senior Madeline Bush followed by sophomore, Kristen Arena (20) and sophomore Isabelle Lee (25)
In addition, 5 others were All-Conference. “Eleven of 17 girls received postseason honors, which is pretty good,’’ Levy said.
Because of its parity, Levy is leery about lauding any single runner for speed and stamina. “There’s not one person to speak about,’’ Levy said. “It’s a group. They’re all All-County, but without each other they wouldn’t have won county championship.
“They genuinely care about each other,’’ he added. “That’s important. On every team you can have difficulty with personalities. They’re all willing to help each other in and out of school. That’s their most redeeming quality.’’
The season isn’t over yet as the boys and girls each qualified two runners to the state championships in Syracuse Nov. 12 – Levy, Sturge, Marchioli and Martocci.
