North Rockland leads at home meet



By Christopher Hunt

HARRIMAN – Chris Carrington had even grown skeptical of himself. After months of injuries and disappointment during the winter and spring track seasons, doubt seeped into his thoughts, slowly swiping his confidence.

But all it takes is one race to wash that away. Carrington, a North Rockland senior, won the Varsity 2 race at the Red Raider Run Friday at the Anthony Wayne Recreation Area of Harriman State Park. He covered the 3.1-mile course in 16:55.94, leading an impressive performance by the Red Raiders at their home meet. They put their top five among the top 10 finishers to win the team race with 24 points. Pine Bush was second with 51.

“The entire summer I was skeptical of whether I’d be able to compete with the top guys,” Carrington said. “I really thought I’d be just a footnote. After this race I’m really confident I can compete with the top guys in the section (Section 1) and the state.”

Teammate Nick Hughes, a junior, finished second behind Carrington in 17:04.34 with Charlie Lagos fourth in 17:25.72, sophomore James Naglieri fourth in 17:37.05 and junior Kevin Brody 10th in 18:11.20. North Rockland coach Barry Baloga said that the team is beginning to gel they way they need to in order to be successful this season.

“These guys have to learn to about running for each other,” he said. “It’s more than the times they ran, it’s the way they ran it. It’s the effort they put out for each other that was really good today.”
Carrington and Hughes took the pace early under Aron Ghobrial of Pine Bush began to push the tempo. Hughes followed. Carrington let them go and settled a few paces back.

“I gave them about 10 feet and let them have it out on the hill,” Carrington said. “The second the hill ended and they were huffing and puffing I made my move and went really hard over the last mile.”

In the boys Varsity 1 race, Washingtonville was just as dominant. Sophomore Martin Hehir and junior Vinny DiSalvio went 1-2 for the Wizards, who took four of the top five places. Hehir finished in 17:10.51 and DiSalvio followed in 17:14.05. Soaked in mud, the team said the rain and slick course didn’t affect them.

“The course was wet,” Hehir said. “We just ran together and opened a lead and cruised in. We’re feeling awesome.”

Washingtonville coach Mike White said his squad planned to stay as tightly-packed as they could Friday. The top four finished 27 seconds apart. Edmond Moloney finished fourth in 17:34.14 and Jack McNeilly fifth in 17:37.57. Junior Nick Morais finished 15th for the Wizards in his second varsity race in 18:11.06.

“We felt great today,” DiSalvio said. “We had that wall going.”

The Washingtonville girls squad enjoyed the same success, winning the girls Varsity 2 race with 35 points. The Wizards were led by Hehir’s younger sister, freshman Lauren Hehir, who ran the entire race alone in front. She finished in 19:49.88. North Rockland finished second with 40 points. Jackie Gamboli and Katherine Hekker finished second and third, respectively, for North Rockland.

But Washingtonville won the team race by packing in the end with Ciara McKallen finishing fifth in 21:19.02, Kaitlin Hammerton eighth in 21:56.25 followed by Caitlin Feeley (10th), Alyssa Wu (11th) and Rosemary Evans (12th).

“We want to make it to the state meet,” Lauren Hehir said. “We think we have the potential to be very successful.”

Cornwall controlled the Varsity 1 race in the constant rain, taking five of the top eight spots for 22 points. Cornwall sophomore Aisling Cuffe won in 18:55.69, the fastest girls’ time of the day.

Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.