Sachem East Girls Place Eighth at Federations

Held annually at Bowdoin Park on the banks of the Hudson River in Wappingers Falls, the New York State Federation Cross Country Championships features the top 27 teams and top 90 individuals from the public, private, Catholic, and city schools in the State of New York, for both boys and girls. And, for the first time since the Sachem split, both sides of the district were represented at this prestigious and very competitive meet.

Representing Sachem North, Colin Eberhardt qualified as an individual and made the best of his first appearance in this meet placing 85th in 17:11 on the challenging 5k course. With clear skies, a dry course, and perfect temperatures Colin's performance topped his gutsy race at last weeks New York Public School Championship.

Also finding the solid footing more to her liking, Rachel Paul bounced back from last week's difficult race to place fifth in 18:37 and lead the Sachem East Cross Country team to an outstanding top 10 finish, placing eighth overall (261 points), just behind Suffolk rival Ward Melville (254 points).

Following Paul's lead, the rest of the East team stepped up and all ran near season bests to guarantee the strong team finish. Shannon O'Hehir placed 45th in 19:38 and Senior Danielle Vasquez was 90th in 20:15, both within seconds of their best at Sunken Meadow. Sealing the team placing was the "pack attack" of Kaitlin DiMartino (135th in 21:01), Nicole Silvestre, (143 in 21:07) and Jayda Allen (144th in 21:07).

For much of the race this pack of three figuratively pushed and pulled one another as they moved up throughout the race and continued to pass rivals right up to the finish line. Sam Maurice, fighting through a hip injury, closed out an outstanding senior season placing 218th in 22:19.

The Sachem East Girls will conclude their stellar season next Saturday at the Nike Cross Country New York Regional where the top two teams and top five individuals receive all expense paid trips to Oregon for the Nike Cross Country Nationals.

Also competing will be the Sachem East Boys squad and possibly Colin Eberhardt of North. Meet location is again Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. Races begin at 9 a.m.