On Friday the Mattituck High School girls got a feel for what it’s like to run cross country in frigid Plattsburgh, N.Y., this time of the year. On Saturday they will experience the real thing.
For the eighth straight year, Mattituck won the Class C title at Friday’s Section XI Championships on a brutally cold, blustery day at Sunken Meadow State Park. In doing so, the Tuckers once again qualified as a team to compete in the state championships Saturday at SUNY/Plattsburgh. READ
Ava Vaccarella seemingly came out of nowhere last year as an eighth-grader to become the top runner on an already strong Mattituck High School girls cross-country team. She was the youngest runner on the team — and the fastest. 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
The Mattituck High School girls cross-country team has enjoyed astounding success the past six years, each of those times winning a Suffolk County championship and competing in the state meet as a team.
Do the Tuckers have it in them for a seventh straight time? READ
It has become a team tradition.
Every November — or at least every November for the past six years — the Mattituck High School girls cross-country team finds itself running against some of the best teams and runners in New York State. READ
The streak lives on.
That’s six straight.
The Mattituck High School girls cross-country team won a sixth straight Suffolk County championship Friday.
Julie Milliman isn’t one to dwell on statistics or records. What really counts to the Mattituck High School girls cross-country coach are the smiles on the faces of her runners. READ
Making it to the high school girls cross-country state championships is quite an achievement. For a team to do it five straight years like Mattituck has done is even more impressive yet. If the Tuckers are to somehow find their way back to the state meet again this year, though, they will have to do so without two-time All-State runner Melanie Pfennig, the only girl to run on all of Mattituck’s Suffolk County champion teams the past five years.
Pfennig finished 13th in the state Class C race last year to lead Mattituck to fifth place in the team standings. (more…)