On Saturday, the boys cross country team attended the Suffolk Officials Cross Country Invitational, a meet inviting high school cross country teams from all over New York. Many Long Island schools came, with Townsend Harris being the only PSAL team attending. It was a rough day for the boys, who experienced many difficulties with the racecourse itself.
As freshman Muhamed Bicic says, “The hills were much steeper and foreign. We didn’t know the course because we never practiced there. Due to Hurricane Sandy, the previous year’s course was altered.”
Junior captain Yash Sharma and junior Junwoo Shin had similar sentiments. Yash explains, “Sunken Meadow is home to one of the hardest hills in the cross country world: Cardiac Hill, whose steep 400m incline really killed our quads and our spirits.”
For the Boys Varsity 5K A race, Yash received 16th place with a time of 19:09. He was then followed by junior Zach Ooi about one minute later, finishing at 20:06 and earning 28th place.
In the Boys 5K Junior Varsity race, which had 107 runners competing, junior Stanley Harcharan received 38th place with a time of 22:33, and sophomore Matthew Sullivan took home 48th place with a time of 23:02.
In the Freshmen 1.7 Mile Run, Muhamed finished 2nd behind freshman Keith Pecora of Northport Senior High School by 6 seconds, with a time of 9:34. Fellow freshman Matan Zeigel followed Muhamed by finishing in 18th place with a time of 11:04. In 21st place, behind Matan, was freshman Vasilis Papa with a time of 11:21.
Though the boys were beaten down, overwhelmed, and shocked throughout the whole race, their beginners managed to place very well in this new, unfamiliar territory.
