Brewster Boys , Girls Dominate at Bear Classic

SKIP PEARLMAN Ariana Bottalico of Brewster won the girls Varsity 2 race. BREWSTER—The Brewster High boys and girls cross country teams both turned in standout performances Saturday, as the Bears dominated the competition at the Bear Classic, winning both the boys and girls Varsity 2 races.

Brewster’s boys team finished with 21 points, beating out Greeley (56) and Eastchester (98). The girls score of 39 easily topped Greeley (76) and John Jay (81).

Charlie Carr turned in a 16:36 over the 5K course, taking first place in the boys race. Mike Thomas ran 16:40 to claim second, and John Carr’s 17:05

earned him a third. Adam McIe was sixth in 17:09, Neeraj Suryanarayanan was seventh in 17:20, and Justin Maguire was 10th in 17:28.

Brewster coach Joe Scelia was impressed with the performance. “I knew we had an outstanding team, but to win by that much was surprising,” he said. “It was a tremendous performance in front of our home crowd. Charlie and Mike have been great all year, and both of them had a great kick. And it was good to see John Carr back with a fifth. All-around it was an awesome race… six in the top 10 is tremendous. Maguire started out on the JV, and has come on to be a contributor, and this was an outstanding race for him.”

SKIP PEARLMAN Brewster’s Charlie Carr won the boys Varsity 2 race. On the girls side, the Bears placed five in the top 20, with Ariana Bottalico, who ran the fastest 5K ever by a Brewster girl in the past week, winning in a new course record time.

Bottalico was in control from early on, and went on to win in a time of 19:38. Nicole Zazzero was third in 20:27, Miriam Munn took seventh with a 20:52, Jess Zurheide was 11th at 21:24, Jamie Maguire placed 18th in 21:51, and Sam Waruch was 25th at 22:33.

Mike Thomas of Brewster was second in the boys race. “It was another strong race, and an all-around great performance,” Scelia said. “Our four and five have been closing the gaps to help us win. Ariana was impressive, running the fastest girls time ever on this course. She took it out from the beginning and dominated the race. And Nicole had a great last mile to get third.”

The Brewster boys are set to compete at the Manhattan Invitational Saturday, while the girls team travels to the Byram Hills Invitational.
SKIP PEARLMAN Nicole Zazzero was third for the Bears in the Varsity 2 girls race.