Brewster Boys, Girls Race to Titles

BREWSTER—It was a double dip of championship pie for the Brewster High boys and girls cross country teams last week, as both squads picked up League II-A championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls last Wednesday.

DAN SCHIFF Brewster’s boys cross country team won a league title last week. Brewster’s boys, who totaled 27 points, convincingly pulled away from Yorktown (64) and third-place Carmel (72).

Mike Thomas led the Bears over the 5K course with a second-place, 17:05 finish. Charlie Carr was third in a time of 17:11, Neeraj Suryanarayanan took fifth in 17:23, John Carr was eighth in 17:33, Adam McIe placed ninth at 17:37, Justin Maguire was 12th in 17:51 and Alec Budd ran an 18:09, good for 14th.

“It was an amazing team accomplishment,” Bears coach Joe Scelia said. “We dominated the race from the start. Our boys team went out smart, and tough. Neeraj had a superb race, as did all of our top seven. Alec Budd continues to get faster with each race, and Mike and Charlie are an incredible one-two duo. It was amazing to win a league title by this many points.”

Ariana Bottalico again paced the girls team, taking first place in a time of 19:55 for the Bears, who racked up 41 points. Lakeland/Panas was second with 49, and Mahopac took third with 52 points.

Miriam Munn placed sixth in 20:58, Nicole Zazzero was seventh in 21:09, Jess Zurheide placed 11th in 21:45, Jamie Maguire was 16th at 22:01, Sam Waruch finished 21st in 23:06 and Michelle Zazzero was 27th in 23:36.

Scelia said he expected a close race.

“I knew this one would be close between a few teams,” he said. “Our girls wanted to win badly, and all of them came together. Ariana’s win was huge, as were performances by Jess Zurheide and Jamie Maguire. Team titles come down to your fourth and fifth runners, and Jess and Jamie passed many runners in that last mile. It was a great way to win another league championship, and I’m very happy for the girls.”