One might have expected the cross-country runners to cringe when they unboarded their buses and stepped out into a light, but steady rain Tuesday at Sunken Meadow State Park for the Section XI Division Championships. READ
Tag: Ava Vaccarella
This was it, Ava Vaccarella’s final chance to qualify for this year’s New York State track and field championships in the 3,000 meters, and the Mattituck High School eighth-grader was nowhere to be found. READ
Emily Russell might have been the only girl who had to hustle back and forth between the high jump and shot put areas Monday night. That didn’t prevent the Southold/Greenport senior from setting a personal record in the shot put, though. READ
Sunday didn’t start off promisingly for Emily Russell. She missed the Southold/Greenport girls winter track team’s bus for the Suffolk County League V Championships. What next, she may have thought.
“I thought it was going to be a terrible day,” she said.
Well, a terrible day turned into a great day. Russell’s parents, Sondra and David, drove her to Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood for the meet and got to see their daughter win league titles in both the high jump and shot put. READ
The youngest runner on the Mattituck High School girls cross-country team just happens to be the fastest. It’s a little unusual, but it’s also a testament to Ava Vaccarella’s ability.
Personal records seem to be a weekly occurrence for the eighth-grader, so perhaps it was to be expected when Vaccarella ran her fastest time ever at Sunken Meadow State Park Saturday. The fact that she did so in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships just made it that much sweeter. READ
Payton Maddaloni, a junior in her fourth year on the Mattituck High School girls cross-country team, didn’t know eighth-grader Ava Vaccarella before this season. It didn’t take Maddaloni long, however, to understand how much of an impact the newcomer would have on the Tuckers. READ
They call it Cardiac Hill for a reason.
Sunken Meadow State Park’s Cardiac Hill is a challenge for all high school cross-country runners, including Payton Maddaloni. The Mattituck High School junior has had her troubles with the infamous hill. READ