North Shore remains dominant

Dynasties don’t come around all too often. John Wooden’s men’s UCLA basketball team, Geno Auriemma’s women’s UConn basketball team, Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots. The longest win streak of any of those dynasties? 111 games. That is surely nothing to scoff at. However, North Shore’s girls’ cross-country program has eclipsed them all, and has no intentions of slowing down any time soon.
“After this regular season, we are now 141-0, and have won our 13th consecutive county championship,” said Lady Vikings coach Neal Levy, the guru of the nationally acclaimed program.
The program has been featured on a national level and is seen as one of the most successful running programs at the high school level. While talking to Levy, though, he seems oddly intent on his focus on the today and the individual, rather than the legacy he looks to continue.
“Our goal is always to be as good as our current fitness and mentality allows us to be,” said Levy. “Losing is okay, but only okay if we physically and mentally gave it the best we could have. It is my job to focus on the individual and get that result out of them.”
North Shore’s latest result at the NYSPHSAA Section 8 Championships was another successful one. In the 5000-meter, the Lady Vikings saw three of their runners, Sophie Rosencrans (third), Nicole Schneider (seventh) and Kate Gilliam (ninth), finish in the top 10, the most representatives of any single school in that top placing.

Levy is not afraid to tap in to his extremely successful crop of alumni, as these girls return to give their best advice to those standing in the spikes they used to fill. “We had Jessica Donahue, a former All-State runner for us, drop by and give the girls a great quote,” said Levy. “She said ‘In running, you have to learn to be comfortable with discomfort’.”
Donahue is just one of Levy’s and North Shore’s many accomplished alumni. “We have had a number of girls go on to run in college, some professional, and just keep competing,” said Levy. The head coach has also seen some great talent on his current roster. “Isabella Strajanekova has been around a long time, she is a senior now and has the new role of captain.”
Levy also pointed out Kate Gilliam. “She is one of those intrinsically motivated individuals,” said Levy. He candidly mentioned freshman and JV runner Olivia Lamond. “I think she initially came to make friends and just fit in, and now she embodies the team concept,” said Levy. Lamond achieved All-Conference honors this year.
The formula for building these great runners comes from a simple three-step program.
“Rule one: No drama. Rule two: Do the best you can. Rule three: Don’t diminish what you do,” said Levy.
With these rules, he has built a network of prior and current North Shore athletes always striving to be better athletes, but he looks beyond just the improvements in athleticism. “I just hope, like with my kids at home, I can provide an environment for them that’s better than when they started,” he said.