The Huntington girls’ cross country team is in the midst of a fine season. Runners have regularly been clocking in with personal best times. With so many underclassmen on the roster the future appears bright.
At last Saturday’s Suffolk Coaches Invitational at Sunken Meadow State Park, Huntington’s top seven runners again performed well with each running an inspired race.
Valerie Rogel, Ella Siepel, Hadley Clayton, Keily Rivas, Erika Varady, Adamaris Ventura and Colette Barron and gave teammates and head coach Beth Vogelsang everything they had.
Rogel captured a medal with a personal best time of 21:38.69. Siepel crushed her previous best time by 40 seconds, crossing the finish line in 22:25.56. Hadley Clayton (22:28.99) also continued chipping away at her season best time, striving to lower it to the personal best she notched last fall. The three runners paced the Blue Devil contingent.
“Although she is a new runner, Adamaris keeps showing our team that she wants it,” Vogelsang said. “She, too, set a new personal record with a time of 26:27.19”
Kaylee Dammers ran in the junior varsity race and “she earned a spot in the top seven for our next varsity race with her PR time of 25:18:61,” Vogelsang said. “Alongside her in the JV race was Ashanna Archibald, who also ran a personal best time, Diya Rai Gersappe and Erin Ye. It was Erin’s first time on the brutal 5K course and she definitely rose to the occasion.”
The Blue Devils were pleased with their effort and performance and they are all committed to finishing the season on a high note.
“The cross country season has been great,” Rogel said. “I feel rewarded seeing my times dropping with each race and I’m looking forward to racing in the divisions and beyond. Overall at the Suffolk Coaches Invitational, Huntington girls did amazingly well. I’m so proud to be on a team with such hardworking girls and I hope they’re just as excited as I am to continue our strong season. As always, the Sunken Meadow course was tough, but I saw a 39 second improvement in my time and was glad to receive a medal following my race.”
