ESPN - RISE - DyestatMetro: The 49th Annual JFK Sterling Meet Report

In the Varsity Boys 1 event, Monsignor Farrell High School, Staten Island, House of Champions, took home the 1st place honors. Msgr. Farrell Coach Tom Cuffe said, “We are coming again next year.” Somers High School boys, fresh after their victory at the Big Red, finished 2nd. Somer’s coaches Tim Fulton and Roy Arnensen were happy at their team’s strong showing explaining, “for health reasons, their top 2 runners did not factor into the scoring today.” Yorktown, led by Manu Kumar, was 3rd.

Yorktown’s Manu Kumar (15:41) showed impressive early season form. He eclipsed his own JFK Sterling course time. This was the best time of the day and a new JFK Sterling course record.

The Varsity 1 Girls race featured a battle amongst runners from Wilton, John Jay Cross River, and Yorktown, who finished 1-2-3 in exactly that order. Celeste Hoelz, Wilton, Ct., won the race with a time of 19:32 for the scenic course. Wilton coach Ted Farrell said, “It was worth the trip.”

In the Varsity Girls 2 race, the Somers High School girls were the team champions. Hastings High School placed second, and host, Kennedy Catholic, finished third. Sister Janet, a Notre Dame graduate, teacher (42 years), JFK Catholic coach (40 years) , Section 1 - New York leader (25 years), and runner was pleased that her team added another trophy to the school’s case from this event at the 49th Annual JFK Sterling Invitational, the oldest and finest Invitational of its kind in Westchester County, New York. Runners from Sleepy Hollow, Hendrick Hudson, Rye, Dover, Briarcliff, and North Salem also had respectable times.

Max Robinson, Rye, led the Varsity Boys 2 race with a time of 16:01. This was a race of balanced talent. Cameron Rasmussen of Hedrick Hudson was 2nd; Joey Moschitto, Briarcliff, was third. Taylor Love of Rye was 4th: Cody Orton from Dover was 5th; and, Christian Guzman from North Salem was 6th. Hasting’s first runner, Jared Schraf, came in 11th; Westlake’s first man was Patrick Donnelly; Eric DiNome, 16th, was the first runner in for Kennedy Catholic. Rye (51) won the event; Hendrick Hudson (81) School finished second; and North Salem (103) placed 3rd.

In one of the best one-on-one duel races of the day, Jessica Kendzor (JFK Catholic) and Katherine Doyle (Sleepy Hollow) passed each other and pushed each other to the limit in the Girls Varsity 2 race. The result was a new Varsity 2 Course Record and JFK Catholic School course record of 18:56 for the winner, Jessica Kendzor. Manhattan Cross Country and Track Coach Melissa Stoll came to the meet to recruit Jessica as a prospective student athlete for the Jaspers. She observed that Jessica “paced herself, ran the course well, and finished strong to catch and pass her competition in the end.”

The Wilton High School Girls team finished first in the JV competition. Yorktown took 2nd place. Somers, Rye, and Hendrick Hudson had runners in the top 25 spots in this event.

Mike Persic, Somers High School, won an exciting JV race, which consisted of 137 runners. Msgr. Farrell (28 points) was victorious, followed by Somers (38 Points). Both teams placed 5 runners in the top 13 laces. Yorktown (80 Points) was 3rd in this competition.

Somers (21 points) won the Girls Freshmen race. John Jay Cross River (40 points) finished second. Dover (59 points) placed third. Alosha Southern from Wilton High School was the individual winner.

In the Freshman Boys race, 108 boys competed. Fordham (48 points) edged Dover (54 Points). Both teams placed 5 runners in the top 20. Wilton was close behind with a total score of 80 points. Nick Myers from Dover led all runners to the finish.