The Section XI Divisionals always bring the best of Suffolk County all to one course. Held at Sunken Meadow, home to the State Meet next year, the top names on the Island fought hard through Cardiac Hill, and impressed with their results. Below are the highlights of the meet.
Northport Comes On Strong When It Counts
The Long Island teams had mostly been quiet heading into this point of the season. Northport had an "off-showing" at the Brown Invite earlier in the year, taking second behind an average Concord, NH team, with Smithtown in 3rd. Well, after meeting up with Smithtown again at Sunken Meadow, Northport proved why they are still relevant. They posted the single best Speed Ratings of a Class A team this year, surpassing the marks set by Fayetteville-Manlius at Manhattan. Smithtown, which finished only twelve points behind in the merge, moves up to NY #5 for Ratings.
Northport was a known entity coming into the season, bringing back all four members of the National Championship winning 4x800m that had run 7:37.42 last spring. They had been dormant for much of the season, racing sparingly. Only the Suffern Invite on Sept 17th showed their true potential. Now, they lead a strong group of teams vying for not only a State Title, but an NXN-bid. Assuming Burnt Hills continues true to form, there is one spot to split between Northport, Fay-Man, Niskayuna, Corning, Ithaca and Smithtown. Talk about close.
Another Sunken Meadow Stride Through For Katherine Lee
The main story on the girls side of the action is the continued ownership of the Sunken Meadow course by senior Katherine Lee (Shoreham-Wading River). Once again, she has run a time that would land her in the Top 50 All-Time, hitting 18:24.45. That mark would make her 15th All-Time on the list, if not for her #6 All-Time mark of 18:10.4 set last year. The run makes her a favorite again for a Class B title, and a Top 10 Finish in the merge. Not a bad place to be heading into the post-season. The team competition was very close, as Class B Mt. Sinai takes on the field, winning by three points of Sachem East.
