By Christopher Hunt
North Shore’s Samantha Nadel is up and running after a strange and scary fall Saturday.
The sophomore was back racing Wednesday at a dual meet Wednesday at Bethpage State Park, winning against Lynbrook, West Hempstead and South Side by covering the 2.5-mile course in 14:10. It wasn’t just important that Nadel put out a strong effort but that she completed the race. At Warwick Wave Mania Saturday, Nadel, on her way to a sophomore course record at Warwick, collapsed in the last mile. Nadel said she was battling a cold before the race but still couldn’t explain what happened during the race.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess it was a combination of things. It was weird. I felt like my legs just gave out. I’ve never fell in a race before. I freaked out. I wasn’t even thinking. I thought about getting up and I tried but my legs felt wobbly. Then I saw my teammate go by and I thought, ‘that’s it.’”
Officials picked Nadel up and onto an ATV and drove her back to the spectator area. Outside of her tears, she said she felt fine after the race and didn’t miss a day of training. Nadel said she felt fine during the race though, until her legs started getting heavy and her pace slowed. Then she just couldn’t move her legs anymore and went down.
“I was so depressed the day after; the day after that,” she said. “I was so mad at myself. It was just weird. I was like how does this happen. I was scared. I was just so bizarre.”
The dual meet, which Nadel said she ran hard, affirmed that there were no residual effects from Saturday’s race.
“She felt bad about Saturday and it was a good opportunity for her to get back on track and get a relaxed run and feel good about herself,” North Shore coach Neil Levy said.
North Shore is set to run in the championship section at the Great American XC Festival in North Carolina Saturday. Nadel said that since the day the cross country season ended last fall Levy has been talking about what North Shore could accomplish this season. Even without Nadel and senior Brianna Welch, North Shore won the Varsity 2 race at Warwick on the heels of a tremendous performance from freshman Elizabeth Caldwell.
The team is currently ranked second in the state in Class B state poll and ranked seventh in the state overall. They are expected to run at full strength Saturday, except for Welch, who sat out last week with shin splints. She will be a race day decision.
“We’re kind of newcomers and beginners to the national scene,” Levy said. “This is just supposed to be a good experience for the team. Some people would have high expectations but for us, it’s an opportunity to race against some good southern schools.”
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.