North Fork runners power through extreme temps

A day before runners took on the state cross country championships on Saturday, Ryan Duffy feared it could be a difficult afternoon at Queensbury High School.

And for a good reason.

On Friday, the Southold High School junior was far from 100 percent, suffering from flu-like symptoms before the Class D boys race.

Though his health did not improve, Duffy decided to compete. Despite not being able to go at full throttle, he finished in 49th place, with the exact time as last year’s race — 17 minutes and 29 seconds, over the 5-kilometer course.

Many runners would be delighted with such a time.

Duffy? He had mixed emotions.

“I ended up gritting it out during the race, getting out there and doing what I could,” he said. “I was pretty happy with how it turned out, given I was pretty sick, but definitely not what I wanted to end the season with.”

The Settlers’ long-distance runner set some high expectations for himself. At the state qualifying meet at Sunken Meadow State Park on Nov. 6, Duffy broke the school record at 17:46.50.

The Class D boys’ race got off to a swift start. Duffy said that his first mile was around 5:10 before slowing down a minute in the second mile.

“It’s just amazing to me how fast the state meet really is, and how quick everybody goes out trying to get position,” he added. “The first mile [of the course] is pretty flat, so everybody just goes so quick the first mile. Then you start hitting the hills and stuff, and everybody slows down.”

Settlers junior runners Liam O’Neill (18:22.3) and William Sommo (18:41.4) finished 74th and 83rd, respectively.

“The team did very well,” Southold coach Karl Himmelmann said. “Liam and Will improved on their finishing times from last year by about 40 seconds each. All four of them [including Emily Kaelin in the girls’ race] have had an outstanding season.”

Kaelin, a junior who finished 66th, clocked a season personal best of 22:07 but wasn’t satisfied.

“It wasn’t my best race,” she said. “I didn’t run as well as I hoped to.”

At many cross-country events, there are obstacles to overcome, expected and unexpected.

“Some parts [of] the ground were very hard, they froze over overnight, and then other parts were super muddy,” Kaelin said.

Pitted against the best of New York, Kaelin had an opportunity to test herself.

“Running with people better than you helps you become better and pushes you to go faster,” she said. “The first mile, everyone went out super-fast.”

For most of the season, Kaelin endured tendinitis.

“I had an okay season,” she said. “I was injured for most of it, so that was kind of frustrating to not be able to run to what I knew I was capable of. But I had a really good race at the county’s last week. It didn’t really carry over into today, but I still have senior year.”

In the Class C boys race, Mattituck junior Marlowe Collamore took 52nd with a time of 17:19.3.

Tuckers’ freshman Rachel Kubetz, who registered a personal-record time of 21:15.6, was 75th.

Mattituck head coach Chris Robinson was pleased with both runners’ performances.

“Our kids performed at their top level that they’d had all year,” he said. “Both PR-ed. It was a cold day, but they stuck through it and just did a really good job. Very proud … It’s a great way to end the season.”

Collamore shaved 70 seconds from last years’ time at the states.

“With anything, if you put everything you have into it … that’s what happens,” Robinson said. “Every single day he worked his butt off in practice. I think he had a little bit more energy in him for this race, because [his time] is a lot in the year. It’s a credit to who he is as an athlete and just his hard work. I’m not surprised.”

Kubetz also put in a strong showing.

“Rachel had a great day,” Robinson said. “She had she wanted to be in the 20s, which would have been nice, but she was in the low 21s. She had a great race.”

Added Kubetz: “I just put a lot of trust into my training, my coaches, my parents and everything that I’ve been working for this whole season,” she said.

Temperatures for the girls’ race on Saturday morning hovered around 33 degrees.

“It was definitely very, very cold,” Kubetz said. “It was actually snowing and raining on Friday.”

Saturday, the sun came out.

“It was actually pretty nice,” she said. “It was perfect running weather. It was just very cold.”

Before the winter track season, Kubetz plans on running with her family in the annual Turkey Trot in Mattituck on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27.

“I’ve done good for the first few years. I hadn’t really begun running yet, so I kind of just jogged it with my Nana, Poppy, uncle, aunt and my parents and my siblings,” she said.