The North Shore girls’ cross-country team is back on top after a one-year hiatus.
The Vikings won the Nassau County Class 3 title with 34 points last Saturday morning at Long Island University, gaining six All-County runners. The Vikings snared their 18th county title in 20 years under revered coach Neal Levy.
New cross-country talent has already arrived along the shores of Hempstead Harbor. Sloane Bonvicino, a freshman, topped the North Shore finishers, landing in fourth place overall with a personal best of 19 minutes, 20.2 seconds.
Bonvicino ran the 5K alongside her accomplished senior teammates, Chloe Connolly and Joanna Kenney, who finished fifth and sixth overall respectively.
"I felt very proud of myself,'' Bonvicino said. "It definitely had a lot to do with the rest of the team helping me, being very supportive, to relieve my stress.''
Last season, North Shore girls were stunned by Cold Spring Harbor, which knocked off the Vikings’ dynasty.
"Last year Cold Spring Harbor was just better than us,'' Levy said, "They had their best team probably in school history. This year we're better than we were last year, gained a couple of additional kids.''
Levy said Bonvicino's addition and vast improvement of senior Hannah Checo lifted the Vikings back to the top of the mountain. Checo finished 17th in 21:22.2 and junior Olivia Makin 19th in 21.41.1 to round out the five scoring members. In addition, Michela Talamo (21.48.7) earned All-County honors with 20th place. (The top 25 finishers get bestowed.)
"Hannah has truly reached her strides in that she has worked her way up as a freshman and is a really dependable, high performing member of the program,'' Levy said of Checo.
While Bonvincino ran varsity track last season as an 8th grader, she opted to play middle-school soccer last fall. "She made consistent improvements and strides, and comes from a running family,'' Levy said.
Indeed, her father Joe Bonvicino is Great Neck North’s coach. Sloane said her father ran with her a lot in Sea Cliff last summer, working on breathing.
Bonvicino-Connolly-Kenney made a formidable trio. Connolly finished with the same time as Bonvicino but just a shade behind after the final all-out sprint. Kenney finished less than a second behind (19:20.9.)
"They helped pace me,'' Bonvicino said of Connolly and Kenney.
This Saturday back at LIU, the three will try to qualify for states as individuals. Kenney and Connolly qualified last year.
"They'll all run together again,” Levy said. “It takes some of the pressure and stress off the individual. In the past, I've had five, six girls run together. Sometimes I can't do it. But this year those three can run together.''
But the goal at the state qualifier is the team making it to Queensbury. "We could have a good chance of qualifying if we have a positive attitude going into it,'' Bonvicino said.
