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Mostly Cloudy Calhoun races to victory
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Senior Bobby McGetrick led the Colts to the county title.
Jeff Wilson/Herald
Calhoun had been knocking on the door of a Nassau County Class A boys’ cross-country championship for the last three seasons, finishing each of those title meets as the runner-up. On Nov. 7, however, the Colts placed four runners among the top 15 at Bethpage State Park and outdistanced Port Washington by 21 points, 73-94, to finally take home the crown.
“The top four ran their best times,” Colts coach Dave Hendler said. “[But the entire team] really stepped up.”
Senior Bobby McGetrick finished fourth overall on the 3.1-mile course (16 minutes, 16.1 seconds), followed closely by junior Tony Campbell in sixth place (16:23.9), junior James Panetta in 13th (16:38.2), senior Kevin Harvey in 15th (16:41.5) and junior Kenny Woo in 35th (17:20.0). Juniors Brendan Adams (17:23.5) and Casey Bader (17:30.1) showed just how deep the team is, finishing 39th and 42nd, respectively, among a field of nearly 175 runners.
Calhoun’s biggest strength was easily its depth, because there was no consistency to the order of finish. McGetrick, Campbell and Harvey have all won races, and the regular shuffling of the Colts' deck made it difficult for opponents to target one or two runners to key on. An offseason of working together –– the team ran more than 500 miles during the summer –– helped fulfill the main objective of winning a county championship from the opening race. “These kids had a goal and kept going for it week after week,” said Hendler.
They ended the regular season with a perfect mark in quad meets (14-0), and their unbeaten streak dates back to the second race of 2007, a string of 41 in a row. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of keeping the winning streak alive is the fact that Calhoun moved up to Conference I prior to the start of the '09 season.
The Colts followed up their county title with a third-place finish in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A championship meet at SUNY-Plattsburgh on Nov. 14, despite the fact that McGetrick was at far less than full strength because of illness. Harvey improved on his performance at Bethpage, trimming almost 25 seconds off his time to finish in 16:14.8. “We lost our number one guy and still finished third,” Hendler said.
Sophomore Nick Hale stepped in for Bader, who was also ill and unable to compete, and finished as Calhoun's final scorer in Plattsburgh, earning 61st place in a time of 17:06.9. Right on his heels was Adams (17:08.9), who finished 62nd.
“This was just a real fun season and something a coach really looks forward to,” Hendler said. “The kids are just really good kids.”
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