Winning year for Long Beach

Senior Peter Morelli set the pace for Long Beach’s boys’ cross-country team this fall, placing 16 th in the Nassau Conference II championship race at Bethpage State Park and advancing to the county/state qualifier meet.

Morelli, who competes in all three running seasons, had a personal-best 5K performance at the county meet Nov. 5, finishing in 17-minutes, 33.0-seconds. He was the top finisher for the Marines over a challenging weather-beaten course in the conference event, finishing in 18:11.5.

“Peter has been a strong runner his whole career,” Long Beach coach Greg Milone said. “I feel like he hit his stride this fall. He stepped up and ran his best on the biggest stage in the state qualifier, and he’s looking forward to the winter season.”

Another hard-working senior, Eric Abasolo, was consistently the team’s No. 2 finisher all season and did so in the conference meet with a time of 18:47.7. “Eric trained hard all summer as usual,” Milone said. “He’s such a steady runner and always sets a positive example for teammates.”

Senior Conor Sofield rejoined the squad after a one-year absence and proved a nice re-addition. “We were glad to get him back,” Milone said. “He brings a high level of competitiveness.”

Senior Carlos Benavides and junior Jerry Carroll-Park placed third and fourth, respectively, for the Marines in the conference meet and “both really grew as runners and improved their times,” Milone said.

Freshmen Steven Hurst and Matt McGovern performed well and will be primed to move up the ladder next fall.

During the regular season, both Long Beach’s boys’ and girls’ teams finished with a winning record of 7-6.

Milone said he’s excited about what the future holds for the Lady Marines, who are loaded with young talent. Of their top seven finishers in the Conference II championship race, three are sophomores and four are freshmen.