Pre-season preview 2018:
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| some of the squad at the end of the first week |
The first week of practice is done and it’s time to start looking ahead to the 2018 season. After last year’s excellent performance at the Section 1 Championship, expectations are high for this year’s team.
Judging from what we saw in the first week of practice, Chris Yeosock is ready to race. Chris returns after a strong sophomore season. He has been training all summer building a solid aerobic base and strengthening himself in the gym. He comes into the season hungry and ready to improve. Right behind him is Dennis Rambaran. Dennis also comes into the season looking stronger. Both have matured nicely as runners and the improvement to their running form is noticeable. Brennan Giglio and Jacob Estrada, are the wildcards for this team. Both of these athletes showed great potential last season. If they work hard we could have a very exciting varsity squad. Also returning from last year’s squad are Savallya Boyini and Joseph Delgado. The dynamic duo looked surprisingly strong on the first week’s hill runs. Our first week returning veteran squad is rounded out by Muhammad Hirji. Muhammad finished last year with a PR and is looking forward to continuing to improve his 5K times.
Unfortunately, due to problems with their medical paperwork we were missing quite a few runners at the first week of practice, including some of our big guns. Coach Aiello has big hopes for this year’s squad. A lot of the hope is based on the return of a strong Jeffrey Quispe. Rumour has it that the senior has been running this summer and should be with the squad by the start of school. Finally last year’s freshmen phenoms Edwin Aguilar and Jason Atkins are also scheduled to appear during the second week of practice to kick off their sophomore years. If everyone shows as promised, this will certainly be the strongest team Hamilton has put on the line in the last 10 years.
The team is as also pleased to see some new faces as well. Three freshmen boys have joined the squad. Sunjay Green, Aaron Villa and Jair Villa have all made favorable impressions on Coach Aiello with their mature attitudes during the first week of running. Finally, after finishing last year with no girls on the team, we have a female presence back on our team. Two first time sophomores, Alyssa Fitzgerald and Jacqueline Praino. Alyssa comes to us after a strong spring track season of hurdling, and Jackie comes to us after a spring season of softball. Both ladies spent the summer following the beginner’s training plan and looked very strong last week.
The team will have a tough season. Their league consists of distance powerhouses Pleasantville, Valhalla, Briarcliff and Croton as well as Westlake. The competition will be tough for leagues, but the team is hoping to compete well at the invitationals, Counties and of course all eyes are set on the Section 1 championship meet where they are hoping to give Haldane a run for their money. First meet of the season is scheduled for Wednesday, September 5th against Irvington. See you then.
