Jones, Price lead pack for Long Beach

Seniors Jewel Jones and Ryan Price led Long Beach cross-country in the Nassau Class I championships Oct. 29 at Bethpage State Park, earning All-County honors in the process.

Jones placed sixth in the girls’ race in 20 minutes, 10.87 seconds, marking her third straight All-County season. Price finished 15th with a time of 17 minutes, 36.01 seconds and helped Marines to an eighth-place finish in the 15-school field. Both set personal bests on the Bethpage 5k course and were back at it last Saturday at the state qualifier, falling a little short of the cut for the state meet.

“Jewel had a wonderful season and an incredible cross-country career at Long Beach,” coach Greg Milone said. “She was upset about not making the state meet, but that’s her competitive nature. One race doesn’t take the shine off her career and she still has the winter and spring track seasons to look forward to.”

Jones, who last winter as a junior captured the county championship in the 1000-meter distance (3:17.7), is aspiring to compete at the college level. She finished the state qualifier in 20:47, which placed her 14th among 100 runners. “She’s a physically strong athlete and has the mental toughness that it takes,” Milone said. “She was three-time All-County and improved her standing each time.”

Jones also finished in under 20 minutes on the 5K course at Eisenhower Park, where a few meets have been held each season since Covid. She and fourth-year runner Keira Hult depart, but Milone is hoping the numbers on the girls’ side can increase starting next fall following a recent dropoff. Freshman Caelin Feehan earned All-Conference honors and showed tremendous upside, Milone said, and carries a great work ethic.

The boys’ roster went 20-deep this fall, led by Price, who also plans to pursue running in college. He finished the state qualifier in 18:18, good enough for a solid 34th overall. “Ryan is another dedicated kid who runs 12 months a year,” Milone said. “He’s a great captain and runner. He really progressed over four years in the program and became more and more confident.”

Each of Long Beach’s five scorers in the county meet set personal bests at Bethpage. Sophomore Juan Guzman, who ran varsity last fall as well, placed 44th in Class 1 in 18:49.43 and is really starting to click, Milone said. The coach’s son, junior Gregory Milone, made considerable progress as a first-year competitor and finished 49th in 19:00.95. Sophomore John Spolidora placed 51st in 19:07.44, and junior Maceo Eramo placed 64th in 19:44.

“As a coach, you want to see everyone improve as the season unfolds so for all of the kids to PR at the county meet, that’s all I could ask,” Milone said.

The Marines also had junior Christian Faccilonga, sophomore Henry Donahue, junior Thomas Morelli, junior Dean Parenti and senior Alejandro Gomez-Rosales round out their top 10 at the county meet.

During the regular season, the boys’ team finished a respectable 7-6.