2021 J.V. County Championship Meet

 Miguel Leads the Way

Jackie Returns

By Myles Stryder 

It’s funny how quickly the season can slip away. It seems like only yesterday it was the first week of September. Then, in the blink of an eye, it’s suddenly the end of October. It sure looked like autumn too as Hamilton traveled to Woodlands for the final time this season. This trip was for the Westchester County J.V. Championship meet. After about 8 meets at Woodlands in the last two seasons, the Hartsdale course is starting to feel like home to the Hamilton Harriers. 

It was a perfect day for an XC race. The sun hanging low in the October skies gave the trees a golden glow and the fluttering leaves all added to the feeling of it being championship season. 22 teams competed and Hamilton was ready to run with them.

Gabby cruising down the hill

To say that our girls’ team has had a challenging 2021 would be an understatement. The team has been hampered by injury all season long, and not one of our girls has been able to run in every race. Today was no exception. Only two Lady Raiders made it to the starting line. Gabby P., who has been as consistent as anyone this season and after two weeks off nursing an injury, the team was thrilled to see Jackie return to the line up. Gabby turned in her usual steady performance running a 35:47. Jackie ran a cautious race being careful not to strain her shins and turned in a decent performance finishing up at 31:22.

Our boys team was able to field a full team of 7 runners today. As usual, the team was led by standout Miguel Gonzalez. Miguel has had an incredible rookie season; he finished his last race at Woodlands with a blazing PR of 18:30. He will have a hard time topping that time on the tough Bowdoin course in two weeks, but with what we have seen from him, I wouldn’t be that surprised if he did. Miguel was followed up by Eric finishing strong with a 20:33. Eric was just able to pass teammate Yahir who ran an impressive 20:35. Yahir has done nothing but improve all season long. Close behind were senior Jair at 21:03 and Yuriy who ran a 21:17. Yuriy has been very consistent on this course; his last three Woodlands times have been within two seconds. Had he not suffered a minor injury during the race he certainly would have run even faster today. Another noteworthy performance was turned in by Bryan Mirtil. A late comer to the team, he is making us all wish he had been here from the beginning. Running his third 5K in a week Bryan has seen his time drop from 32:21 to 23:28. This kid has talent. Seventh across the line was freshman Marco Morocho. This is his first, and he says last, season running XC. If it is his last, that would be a shame. He’s a tough competitor who always gives it his all. Marco also suffered a minor mishap during the race, but was still able to finish up at 27:31.

After a frantic period of running two or three meets a week, the team finally has two weeks to work on focused training to get ready for the Section 1 Championship meet Saturday November 6. Will Hamilton send any athletes to compete at States? Stay tuned.

2021 Season Begins

2021 Kickoff at Rockwood Hall Park

Miguel and Jackie lead the way

September 9, 2021

by Miles Stryder

The Hamilton XC team started its season on a damp Thursday afternoon under cloudy skies but the dreary atmosphere did not darken the spirits of this team. The Raiders opening meet was a positive experience for all involved.

   Today's meet was hosted by Valhalla, but rather than running at their campus the Vikings chose Rockwood Hall park as the site for the meet. Hamilton and Valhalla were also joined by the squads from Westlake and Croton as well. Rockwood Hall, located right on the shores of the Hudson river is a beautiful place to run. It's very scenic and also very challenging. Hamilton has run against Briarcliff many times at this locale, but today's course was completely different. For the first time the team had to run an out and back course: down the big hill, out along the river, back, and up the BIG hill. A tough course for the first time out, but the Hamilton harriers proved ready for the challenge.

Kyra

Matteo

Freshman Matteo Di Berto and newcomer Kyra Ward ran the novice 1.5 mile course for their first XC races. Both turned in solid performances. Our other female rookies Olivia Garvey and Guadalupe Larios on the other hand had to tackle the full course as their introduction to XC racing. They were more than up to the challenge, and with the help of veteran Gabriella Pellegrino, both ladies finished well. The ladies' squad was led today by sophomore Jacqueline Dutan who was first to finish.

Jackie D. leads the Lady Raiders

  The boys' team also started the season well. Rookie Miguel Gonzalez led the way for the red shirts with a solid 19:19 run that had Coach Aiello do a double take on his watch. This kid could be heading for big things. Close on Miguel's heels was second year Eric Lopez who finished like a champ charging up the hill. The "new and improved" Yuriy Kryvoruchko kicked off his second year of running with an impressive performance as the 3rd Hamilton boy across the line. Yuriy was followed by senior Jair Villa who turned in another steady reliable performance. Steven Barrera was the final Hamilton runner across the line turning in a solid run after only one week of running with the team.

   

 Coach Aiello was more than pleased with his team's performance, after the race he commented: " We graduated a lot of talent last year, but I really like what I saw out there today. This team works hard in practice everyday. They did not come into the season in the kind of shape that I would have hoped for, but they have a lot of heart. They display a solid work ethic at practice. They're willing to work hard at the drills and all of the little things that will make them better. I think they will see great improvement over the course of the season."

   

Things look bright for this season. It's only week three and with the start of school we may see a few new faces added to the roster. Should be an interesting season.

Next race, next week, against powerhouse Bronxville.