Valley Stream North didn't just defend its Nassau County boys cross-country crown; it dominated the field, sweeping the top three places and putting four runners among the top six to capture the program's second consecutive Section VIII Class C championship at Bethpage State Park on Halloween.
The Spartans finished with 23 points, 35 fewer than runner-up North Shore, in the race featuring 103 competitors. Team scores are determined by adding the places of each school's top five finishers, with lower totals winning.
Senior Evan Truong led the sweep, covering the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 56.90 seconds. Sophomores Kyle Farina (16:57.00) and Gavin Trustey (16:57.20) finished just behind him, giving Valley Stream North the 1-2-3 finish. Senior Chamar Borden was sixth in 17:28.50, senior Frankie Polizzi 12th in 17:43.80 and junior Gurbazz Singh 14th in 17:45.70.
All of them earned All-County status for their performances.
“It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” coach Tim Boyens said. “I just have a really, really nice group of guys this year. Really hard-working, motivated. We won last year, and their goal from the beginning was to do it again.”
The Spartans entered the meet after an undefeated 14-0 regular season. Boyens said the team had held back some effort, with its sights set on this weekend’s state qualifier at LIU Post in Brookville.
“We kind of maybe backed off a little bit,” Boyens said. “The plan was to try to keep some of the other guys on our team with them as long as they could. And they did a good job of that.”
On the final straightaway, the three leaders pushed for the finish. Boyens said the two sophomores were happy to see Truong, a senior, take the victory, though they remained in the hunt for first place.
“What makes these kids so good is they’re so competitive,” Boyens said. “All the best plans can fall apart when a competitor is out there.”
Boyens said Farina and Trustey, both All-County runners as freshmen, have the potential to become among the best runners in program history. He expects Truong to run faster at the qualifier and believes he has a strong chance to reach the state championship.
The coach also praised the runners who made the team's depth decisive, particularly Borden and Polizzi. Singh delivered what Boyens called “the race of the day,” improving his personal best by about 90 seconds.
“A cross-country team is only as good as their fifth man,” Boyens said. “Our mantra the whole year is, ‘Run as one.’ That's what we do. We're always running for each other.”
The Spartans have raced at LIU Post previously, Boyens said, so they are familiar with the course. One of the main competitors for North will be Manhasset, which Boyens called the perennial best team in Nassau County, with a state-meet berth on the line.
“I think we're the underdogs, and I think we like that,” he said. “If we have a good day and maybe some of their guys don't run their best, who knows? We might be getting on the bus to go to the state meet.”
