Chaminade boys, St. Anthony's girls win team titles at CHSAA intersectional cross country championships
The Chaminade boys cross country team, from left: coach Kevin Beirne, Brian Guiheen, Blake Weaver, Teddy O’Sullivan, Daniel Hilton, Daniel Egan, Ryan Going and Kazuma Clarke, on Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park. Credit: Howard Simmons
Long Island teams dominated the CHSAA Intersectional championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Saturday.
On the boys’ side, Chaminade continued to turn its collective dream into a reality, as it scored 57 points in the 2.5-mile race to win its first intersectional team title since 2020. Of the three goals the Flyers set for themselves, two of them have been checked off (league title and intersectional title). All that remains is the state Federation championship meet, scheduled for Nov. 22 at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.
"We’ve been really focusing our training on Feds, so being able to perform as well as we did at a meet that hasn’t been our top focus the entire season feels great,” junior Blake Weaver said. “We gained the confidence that we can perform when we need to.”
Saint Anthony’s placed second with 100 points, while Kellenberg took sixth with 193. Both teams also qualified for the Federation meet. The Firebirds produced the top individual Long Islander at the meet, sophomore Aidan Hopkins, who placed third in 12 minutes, 50.5 seconds.
It was a huge bounce-back performance for Hopkins, who placed 13th at the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA championships on Oct. 26.
“I definitely feel like this was redemption for that meet,” Hopkins said. “I’ve been racing these people all year, and I know they’re really good competition, so I was really excited to beat them today.”
On the girls’ side, St. Anthony’s scored 43 points to win. With the team’s top runner not feeling well, sophomore Isabella Anazagasty stepped up to place fifth in 16:33.
“It was such an incredible moment to win with my team,” Anazagasty said. “They helped me through that entire race by communicating and sticking with each other. We’ve been working hard for this goal, and it was such a great thing to experience.”
Sacred Heart (fourth place, 136 points) and Kellenberg (fifth, 151) also qualified for the Federation meet. Sacred Heart junior Elle Riches was Long Island’s top individual with a third-place finish in 16:11.7.
Riches stepped in for injured star Maeve Going, who is out for the season.
“Since Maeve couldn’t go, we were worried without her because we want the whole team going to Feds,” Riches said. “I’m really glad. It shows even next year, we’ll still be a strong team.”
LONG ISLAND BOYS TEAM QUALIFIERS FOR FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIPS
Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx
2.5 miles
Chaminade: 57 points
6. Brian Guiheen, Sr., 12:59.1
9. Blake Weaver, Jr., 13:18.1
10. Daniel Hilton, Sr., 13:20.2
15. Dan Egan, Sr., 13:33.8
17. Kazuma Clarke, Soph., 13:34.8
19. Ryan Going, Soph., 13:35.2
28. Theodore O’Sullivan, Sr., 14:03.4
St. Anthony’s: 100 points
8. Edward Lessing, Jr., 13:07.9
12. Nicholas Caroddo, Sr., 13:25.7
14. Zach Guber, Sr., 13:28.8
29. George Lang, Soph., 14:03.4
37. Parker Cohen, Fr., 14:14.1
38. Joshua Berg, Jr., 14:18.3
42. Brody Leo, Soph., 14:29.6
Kellenberg: 193 points
3. Aidan Hopkins, Soph., 12:50.5
13. Zach Paggi, Jr., 13:28.3
44. Amir Ajenishe, Sr., 14:30.2
64. Colby Lazo, Jr., 15:04.4
69. Owen Hanley, Jr., 15:13.5
76. Alexander Diegnan, Soph., 15:24.2
88. Viktor Lorentz, Sr., 15:59.4
LONG ISLAND GIRLS TEAM QUALIFIERS FOR FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIPS
St. Anthony’s: 43 points
5. Isabella Anazagasty, Soph., 16:33
6. Alessia Crispo, Jr., 16:39.8
7. Catherine Savage, Jr., 16:45.3
8. Meghan Murtha, Soph., 16:51.6
17. Kiera Cameron, Sr., 17:33.6
19. Juliana Sampugnaro, Soph., 17:34.5
22. Elena Ciaccio, Jr., 17:41.1
Sacred Heart: 136 points
3. Elle Riches, Jr., 16:11.7
21. Tess Riches, Soph., 17:38.8
25. Grace Gutman, Sr., 17:49.8
45. Isabella Davis, Soph., 18:33.7
47. Keegan Crump, Jr., 18:39.8
54. Isabella Canales Alvizuri, Soph., 18:52.2
59. Grace Kennedy, Soph., 19:01.3
Kellenberg: 151 points
11. Jessica Estrella, Jr., 17:08.5
30. Brooke Corbett, Soph., 17:54.1
32. Hayden Nolan, Soph., 18:02.2
40. Christina Cyrus, Fr., 18:18.4
42. Ryleigh Nasso, Sr., 18:26.3
52. Sarah Zaikowski, Jr., 18:49.1
64. Caroline O’Doherty, Sr., 19:29.7
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
