Sunday, December 8, 2024
Matteo Somma qualified for this weekend’s New York State boys’ cross-country championships with the best run of his varsity career.
The Valley Stream North senior completed the 5K event at Eisenhower Park last Saturday in 16 minutes flat en route to a second-place finish at the Section 8 state qualifier meet. His time in the Class B race was about three seconds faster than his previous best during the Spartans’ fourth league meet on the same course on Sept. 30.
Somma finished 4:30 ahead of Garden City’s Ryan McAlea after posting a time of 16:40.9 at last year’s state qualifier. This weekend’s event will be held in Queensbury, NY. So
“He’s not a kid with a huge kick in the end like some of the other kids,” coach Tim Boyens said. “His plan was to go out fast in the first two miles, kind of empty the tank, and say to everyone else that if they want to beat you, they’re going to have to hang on to you. He executed the plan perfect, to be honest.”
Somma won all four of his league starts and finished fourth at the Nassau Coaches meet at Bethpage on Oct. 26. And, oh by the way, he traveled to Spain last month and won the U17 World Triathlon Championships while representing the United States.
“It’s pretty cool,” Boyens said. “To him, it’s just a testament to the amount of work that he’s put in.”
Evan Truong was the second-highest North finisher at the state qualifier after placing 29th with a time of 18:12.60 and fellow sophomore Frankie Polizzi’s time of 18:26.70 was good for 36th in the 104-runner field.
“He’s super athletic and, at the end of the day, he might be the best out of all of them,” Boyens said of Truong. “He’s really come on and found his spot here and started to believe in himself.”
The Spartans went 13-1 for the second straight season, good enough to for first in the division and second in the conference behind Manhasset, the only team that dealt North a loss. The boys went on to finish second in the Nassau Class III Championships at Bethpage State Park on Nov. 2, one point shy of Wantagh.
The Warriors boasted the 5K winner in Owen Stachlik and third-place finisher Ian Frazer…the son of Spartans longtime coach Mike Frazer.
“To me, it’s a beautiful thing,” Boyens said. “My team and the Wantagh team are close kids. They go to our camp over the summer [and] they train together. When it was over and we went 1-2, the kids all got together and took a picture and we congratulated them.”
Truong was the second-best Spartan at 14th place, immediately ahead of teammates Polizzi (15th) and junior Matthew Gangi (16th). Those three, along with Somma (sixth) and junior Satveer Thind, (21st) all earned All-County honors.
North also has some budding stars in junior Mateusz Grabowski, who finished fourth with a personal best time of 18:30.7 during the Sept. 16 league meet, and eighth-grader Gavin Trustey.
