Raiders Run Wild at Bobcat Run 2016

Chris and Omar Break Freshman Record

Lowell and Chris

Team Racks Up 12 PRs

By Myles Stryder

What a day in Armonk! The Hamilton Harriers have been working hard all season and improving steadily, but I don’t think anyone expected to have so many runners take such a big step forward on the same day.

     The day dawned cloudy, but luckily not rainy as the team met for an 8m bus and quick breakfast of bagels and cream cheese. The team scrambled off the bus shortly before 9, set up the tent in the middle of the field and started getting

prepared for a day of races.  Everyone was sensing the excitement in the air. The Bobcat Run has grown into a class cross country event, This year there were about 40 teams competing and the field was packed with multi-colored tents, teams and uniforms.

    First race of the day for Hamilton was the freshmen boys. Chris Yeosock was eager to take another shot at Lowell’s 1.5 mi. Mark of 10:49. All of the freshmen have been working hard the last couple of weeks, to the point of completing their first 5 mile run on the trail this past Thursday.  The race

started out with a couple of circuits around the field and then into the woods. The course proved to be much faster than Woodlands and the improved competition must have had some effect on our runners because they flew today. First out of the woods and down the field to the finish was Chris coming in at a record breaking 10:09. Omar followed with a mad dash at the end, passing seven

runners in the last 100 meters. He crossed the line at 10:44 also besting the old record.  Next in with a PR and 5th fastest time ever for a frosh was Dennis Rambaran at 11:19. Brennan, Savallya and Joe D. all followed with PRs of their own, with each shaving more than a minute off their bests. After today, it looks like Coach Aiello will be running a few of these 9th graders in the 5K next week at the C and O meet at Bowdoin. They need to know the course should any of them be needed at the State Qualifier meet.

    The girls ran JV again today. Today Megan had the better of it, with a 24:09 5K, 7th best ever. Naomi followed with a

Megan on the way to PR

25:03. Jennifer Vargas then turned in a 27:44 for her second PR in a week. Maddy and Lauren followed in helping the girls finish ahead of Valhalla.

     All the boys ran in the varsity race and it was a fast one. Lowell again was our first man across the line matching his season best of 20:10. Captain Ryan followed again with a PR of 21:07. Brandon M. continued in the #3 spot also turning in a PR of 22:50 which puts him into

our all-time top 20. Jeff quietly slipped into the the #4 spot also turning in a PR time of 23:51. Christian and Alfonso followed, helping the team combine to out run Mount Vernon and Children’s Village.

     Coach Aiello had been looking forward to this meet, but never expected to see so many show so much improvement at the same time. The Bobcat has long been one of the favorite meets of every cross country season, and after today’s performance, you can be sure the team will be looking forward to returning next year. Wednesday the team returns to Woodlands for the League Championship, stay tuned.

Meet vs. Woodlands and Croton

Freshmen shine run 3 of 7 top times

   By Myles Stryder

     Sometimes it seems like Woodlands is our home away from home. This Wednesday was our third of five trips to Greenburgh. Today was a small affair. Just a double dual meet with the host team and Croton. Everything about this meet was short and sweet, so this blog post will be too.

   We were rained out of our earlier dual meet with Croton, so this was our first time to see them. They were the only team today that had a full girls’ team, so it was decided to run one combined race. This meant that the freshmen would have their first crack at a 5K since our first meet on the 7th of September.  If there was a story line today it had to be the frosh squad. With the absence of two starting red shirts, this was an opportunity for the young guys to make a statement. With the Bobcat run upcoming Saturday, our top runners were under instruction to just cruise  the by now familiar course. Lowell and Ryan did just that. They were closely followed by Brandon Machado, who has been a shot in the arm for this team. Speedy freshman Chris Y. followed running a sold 23:07 and rookie Alfonso Garcia, a junior transfer followed rounding out the scoring for Hamilton.  Freshman Omar, who has all the potential in the world, was next across the line. Following Omar was young Dennis R., who has been one of the hardest working guys on the team. As the freshman crossed the line, he turned to Coach Aiello and asked “Good enough for a red shirt?”. Now there is a kid with desire. Jonathon, frosh Brennan and Corey were next. Behind them were Joe, Savallya, Christian and Luciano.

   We only had two girls today. Naomi looked good running a 24:21 as did Megan at 25:10. I’m giving times, but I’m not sure what distance we ran today.  The course at Woodlands always seems to change a bit every time we run there. Woodlands Coach Parker put it at 2.8 or 2.9 miles. We’ll put it in our books as 2.8. Next meet for the Hamilton Harriers is everyone’s favorite the Bobcat Run at Byram Hills this Saturday.

*sorry for not having pictures, had to work the finish line

Woodlands Invitational 10/2

Harriers show great improvement

PRs a plenty

 By Myles Stryder

There was no mid-week dual meet on the schedule for the last week of September, so the team took advantage of the extra time to do some good workouts. Monday was a hill/speedwork combo and Wednesday was 1000 m. intervals on the field for the first time this season. It must have been just what the team needed, because our second trip to Woodlands proved to be much speedier than our first.

  About two years ago the decision was made to move the County meet from Croton  Point to Woodlands H.S.. Since than, our Greenburgh neighbors have been busy hosting many meets. This was the second annual Woodlands Invitational and Hamilton’s first appearance. The meet was mid-sized, about twenty teams, and it was quite the interesting mix of schools as our Harriers found themselves running against teams from Bronxville, the South Bronx and even the German International School.

  The day started cloudy and cool with a forecast for showers. Luckily though, the skies stayed overcast the rain never appeared. First race of the day sent our freshman team to the line. It’s been fun this season watching this young bunch of guys starting to develop into a unit. Chris Y. decided to

Chris Y. leading the frosh

take advantage of the opportunity to compete against guys his own age.  He was first across the line for us with a time of 11:51 on the slow 1.5 mi. woodchip covered  course.  Omar followed as our #2 with a 12:16. Dennis and Brennan came in together for our numbers 3 and 4. They were followed by Savallya and Joe who both cut minutes off their times from our previous trip to Woodlands. The boys combined to beat both Ardsley and Westlake. This Frosh squad has got some talent, and there is no reason why another one or maybe even two of them might wind up joining Chris wearing red shirts by the end of the season.

  

frosh with Captain Ryan

 Next to the line were our JV boys Christian Torres decided to join Corey for the run and both of them put up their best times ever. Christian running a 28:49 and Corey finally breaking 30:00. This was a monkey that Hamilton Baseball’s best pitcher wanted off his back, and the whole team was glad to see him finally do it.

  We only had three ladies today, so the decision was made to run them in the JV race. Being in the mix and closer to the front seemed to motivate them. Naomi was sixth overall across the line, snagging a medal in the process. The award was nice, but more  impressive was her PR performance landing her in our top 7 all time.  Megan after a late night dinner, which won’t be described here, also put up a very solid performance of 26:07. Clearly though, one of the highlights of the day was seeing senior Jenn Vargas have her best race since joining Hamilton’s team last season. Jenn ran a determined race and put up a PR of 28:34.

Lady Raiders ready to race

  Our boys’ varsity team was not at full strength. Chris Y. ran Frosh and Stephen S. was out injured. We put 6 guys on the line and they gave it their all. There is something a little different about this team this season. They just have a little more desire. Lowell led the red shirts with a 20:41, a ways from his PR, but not bad for October 1. Ryan looked good coming in just 15 seconds off his best. Rookie Brandon Machado cut minutes off his best crossing the line at 23:47. Rock solid Jeffrey Quispe was next across with a PR as well. Jonathon, with a tremendous finish, catching a Children’s Village runner in the last 100m ran a season’s best as did Luciano. By the way, that last pass helped us edge out Children’s Village in the final standings.

  All in all, it was a very successful day. This a different team from the last couple. You can see it from the way they warm up and the way they do their cool down runs.  Today was the start of October. It could be a very interesting month indeed, stay tuned.