Brewster Boys Close Out Season at Federation Meet

BREWSTER—The Brewster High boys cross country team closed out the 2009 season at the Federation meet at Bowdoin Park last week, taking 18th out of 28 teams.

Mike Thomas DAN Thomas DAN SCHIFFAriana North Rockland was first, Burnt Hills took second, and Warwick Valley was third.

Mike Thomas led Brewster in 73rd place in 17:19, Charlie Carr was 103rd in 17:28 and Adam McIe was 125th in 17:40. Neeraj Suryanarayanan took 141st in 17:48, Justin Maguire was 143rd in 17:49, Nick Foy was 234th in 18:57 and Alec Budd was 246th at 19:24.

Bears coach Joe Scelia said his team was exhausted at this point in the season, and did not turn in one of its better performances.

“We were happy to make it there,” Scelia said. “But it was a tough day… It wasn’t our best race. But I was not disappointed. We didn’t think we’d make it this far. We were training for the sectionals and states. This is a bonus, and it was great to get here. Our guys didn’t get out of the gate well… the start is very crowded, and the flow of the race is not good…we had to dodge kids. That was tough.”

SCHIFFAriana Bottalico DAN Bottalico DAN SCHIFF But the race was the capper on what has been a terrific season for the Brewster boys.

The Bears won League 2-A, then won the Class A Section 1 championship for only the second time in school history. Brewster went on to take fourth place at the state championships.

“Our goal was to win the section and make the Federation meet, and we did both,” Scelia said. “It was a tough battle, but the kids did it, and peaked at the right time, and ran with emotion when it counted. Mike and Charlie had an outstanding year, they were together pretty much every race, and they were a huge reason why we were so successful this season.”

Charlie Carr DAN Carr DAN SCHIFF Thomas, a senior captain, and Carr, a sophomore, earned All-Section 1 honors. Those two, along with senior John Carr, soph McIe, Suryanarayanan (senior captain) and Budd (freshman) were all named All-County and All-League.

Brewster’s girls team won League 2-A, and placed fourth at the sectional championships.

Freshman team captain Ariana Bottalico was named All-Section, and – along with senior Miriam Munn, senior captain Nicole Zazzero and freshman Jess Zurheide, earned All-League honors. And those girls, along with Jamie Maguire, were named All-County.

“The girls had a real solid season,” Scelia said. “They won the Rhode Island Invitational – a highlight – and won the league. And we have several strong JV girls, so it’s a strong team. We lose Miriam and Nicole – that will be tough – but we bring back some hard-working girls, so I’m excited.”