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Sports

North Girls XC Routs Lindenhurst

Wood, Lavan pace Flaming Arrows to key win.

With cross country teams from all over Suffolk County at Sunken Meadow State Park, the Sachem North girls cross country team had an objective – beating Lindenhurst – to not get lost in the crowd.

The Arrows evened their record at 2-2 in League II by beating Lindenhurst 18-53 Tuesday. Senior Keira Wood and sophomore Kelly Lavan broke off from a crowd of North runners to take first and second by nearly a minute, and the rest of the experienced Arrows cruised to take home a convincing win.

Wood set the pace with a time of 20:31, and Lavan – the only underclassmen among Sachem's top five – was just behind her with a 20:35.

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"Keira's been our number one, and Kelly's been riding her coattails, and I mean that in a very positive way," Sachem North head coach John Horst said. "She's right there with her."

Seniors Mary Cipriano (21:23), Kayla Cataldo (21:24) and Brianne D'Amato (21:31) finished 4-5-6 to round out North's top five finishers. They were among 10 or so Arrow runners who stuck to the gameplan from the start.

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"Our plan was to go out as a pack and be comfortable in the first part, and once we got to the top of cardiac (or around the second-mile mark), to go from there," Horst said. "I was pleased with the times and the team concept."

Sachem was a powerhouse before the split, and ever since, North has gradually built the program back up. It's to the point where this year's group of 45 runners is the county's largest.

"We've finally gotten some young kids out and they've run really well, and the older kids are learning," said Horst. "They're all good kids and fun to be around."

Half of the Arrows squad will take part in the 28th Annual Brown University Northeast Cross Country Championship in Rhode Island this weekend; the other half will run at the Nassau County Coaches Invitational. North then rounds out its dual meet season back at Sunken Meadow where it will face Patchogue-Medford.

East Girls Tripped Up By Commack

In a toss-up meet like the one Sachem East had against Commack Tuesday, every second counts. The Arrows had hoped to land a victory to put themselves in position to go 4-1 on the year, but the Cougars just eked out a 27-28 victory.

"We knew it would be close," head coach Jaimie Sisson said. "On paper, we're basically the same. We knew it would probably be a point either way, and that's exactly what ended up happening. Unfortunately, it was in their favor."

Junior Rachel Paul completed the three-mile course in 18:37 to take first place. A track standout, this is Paul's first season running cross country and she's flourished, winning every league race and the varsity C race at Manhattan College High School Cross Country Invitational, held last weekend.

"I think she'll definitely make it to states," Sisson said. "[At divisions], I think she'll finally be challenged, which is good."

It's also Melanie Notarstefano's first full season running cross country. She finished fourth in the meet with a time of 20:03. Classmate Danielle Vazquez was just behind her, taking sixth overall (20:11). Sisson praised the efforts of two freshmen - Shannon O'Hehir (8th, 20:59); Katie Hempfling (9th, 21:06) - both of whom are a big part of East's present and future.

"This is the best team we've had at East since it opened," she said. "It took a long time to get that growth and we're finally seeing it."

The Arrows are set to run at Brown this weekend. They wrap up the regular season with Senior Day at East. That takes place on Tuesday against Lindenhurst.

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