Mattituck’s Collamore and Kubetz run their way to states — again

Marlowe Collamore and Rachel Kubetz will be spending another cold November Saturday in upstate New York, but they certainly won’t be complaining about it.

That’s because the Mattituck High School juniors will be competing at the state cross country championships in Queensbury — again.

Both Tucker runners booked spots in the Class C division with exceptional performances at the Suffolk County state qualifying meet at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park on Thursday, Nov. 6.

Collamore took sixth place in the boys division over the five-kilometer course with a personal record time of 18 minutes, 14.10 seconds, while Kubetz earned fourth-place honors as the lone Tuckers girls runner with a time of 22:38.80.

Mattituck head coach Chris Robinson said Collamore did “great.”

“Marlowe does great all the time,” he added. “He’s worked his butt off. He wanted to peak at the right time, and he looked his strongest that he’s been all year throughout the entire course. He finished strong. It’s a credit to him. He’s going upstate. There are still little things that he’s going to work on. So even at states, he’s going to try to improve.”

Kubetz finished with a personal record time as she nears her third trip to the state championship.

“I’m super proud of myself for being able to make it all three years, and hopefully I’ll be able to continue making it next year, my senior year,” she said.

Before Kubetz raced, Robinson gave her some advice.

“I said, ‘You’re not a rookie anymore, and you’ve been here before. Attack the course, do what you do,'” he said.

“And she had her best race, too. Rachel was dealing with some hip stuff in the middle of the season, so we were trying to get her healthy. She looks great heading into states, and I know she has goals for herself when she gets there as well.”

Kubetz admitted she had some doubts before the start of her race.

“I wasn’t really sure if I was going to be able to make it,” she said. “I had a little bit slower season than I did last year, but I was still able to PR from last year. This year, on the course today, I’m super happy.”

The key to the Mattituck junior’s race?

“I made sure to properly hydrate, starting yesterday and continuing into today, which I think was a big factor in it,” she said.

Kubetz said that she was not bothered by the cold. Temperatures hovered around 55 degrees with a brisk wind coming off Long Island Sound.

“Since you’re running, you kind of stay warm,” she said. “You don’t really notice the cold as much during your race. It’s more just like after when you’re waiting.”

Waiting at the awards ceremony.

Collamore and Kubetz had a little more than a week to prepare for their final run of their high school season.

“I say this every year, but there’s nothing special that I could do within the next three or four days that’s going to change where they’re at,” Robinson said. “They’ll just keep their mileage up. Do the same similar workouts that we’ve been doing. But prepare mentally for it, too, because it’s a long bus ride. It’s the states. There’s stress with that. That part of it is the thing that is more tough for them, more than even the running part. So just mentally be prepared for it.”

Kubetz said that she would like to cut a few more seconds off her personal best at Queensbury, which is located just north of Glens Falls.

“I’ll probably start to taper miles, so I don’t like overworking myself before,” she said.

The Tuckers boys team (78 points) finished third among Class C schools, behind Bayport-Blue Point (29) and Babylon (35).

Mattituck sophomore E. Daniel Galvez (20:13.10) finished in 16th place, junior Logan Carr (20:55.1) in 17th, eighth-grader Montgomery Lang (20:57) in 18th, junior Jacob Malkush (21:29.70) in 21st and junior Gavyn Drago (22:05.00) in 25th.