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Expanding SW Harrier squad on the way up

Richard A. Ross
Posted 10/1/21

LAKE HUNTINGTON - Distance running is an intensely personal venture, one that calls for the unified summoning of one’s body, mind and spirit. Certainly, all sports require such, but there is …

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Expanding SW Harrier squad on the way up

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LAKE HUNTINGTON - Distance running is an intensely personal venture, one that calls for the unified summoning of one’s body, mind and spirit. Certainly, all sports require such, but there is something about being out there on the road or trail that brings long distance runners closer to that oneness. Runners get this. They know that every time they lace up their shoes there will be that unavoidable test of will and grit. But runners are also part of a community; one that shares a common understanding and respect for the experience. Consequently, an individual’s performance is often seen as well, in the context of the group, in this case, in terms of one’s team.

Sullivan West Coach Skylar Musa understands both the individual and aggregate aspects. She is a seasoned and devoted runner, and now, as a coach, she functions as a team builder. The latter endeavor is working, as the Sullivan West boys team now has six members and can register in races as a team entity, which it could not do before.

Runners feed off of each other, and that was clearly the case in the Westie’s 15-50 win over S.S. Seward. The team’s nexus of leaders ran the course together as Reece Maopolski, Landon Volpe and Karl Swanson crossed the finish line with identical times of 22:48. All three have registered much quicker times, but the nature of this race made it seem more like a team workout.

Running in proximity to one another is key in races in order to amass aggregate lower points. In Cross-Country, the lower the team score, the better. Thus, it is not only good to finish in the top echelon of contenders, but to also have multiple runners in that array. So, the Westies’ plan to run together makes good sense.

The other team veteran, Gabe Wasner finished a bit behind, but he figures strongly into the team plan as well. Ethan Kavarnous is the team’s sixth runner. He, like Volpe, is a recent addition. Looking over the modified runners that were also competing, it is obvious that the Sullivan West program is building. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and team building in this sport takes time and patience. Maopolski, like his brother Bryce who now runs for Oneonta, figures to be the point man of this pack. Next year he hopes to join Bryce in college. Their impressive profile in running is superseded only by their musical imprint in their band Brotality, rapidly becoming more and more known for their impressive brand of metal rock.

Whenever they can, they run together, an integral part of the Maotribe, which includes their mother Dee who is the team’s assistant coach and a former standout runner at Washingtonville and their father Paul. The extended family has a strong running pedigree in cousins Sydney and Cameron, Sienna grads. And of course, their grandfather Charlie Delmonico, the legendary former coach at Washingtonville. As noted, runners are part of a community, in this case a family, which by the way, close-knit teams also see themselves as.

Coach Musa put the team’s efforts in perspective, “Currently the team is still building fitness week by week and that is the main goal at this point. We have attended the Red Raider Invite at Bear Mountain, The Pre-State Invite at Chenango Valley State Park, and the Bowdoin Invite. Each of these have served a different purpose and since the course difficulty and weather plays such a big role, we are really using these to get back into racing and focus on specific racing tactics each week (as opposed to a time-goal at this point).

“The next few weeks will be our first chance to really “test” our fitness and see how fast we can run, whereas the first few invites are really meant to run hard on different terrain and not put as much pressure on the time necessarily. Our upcoming invitationals include Manhattan Invite at Van Cortlandt Park, and the Marathon Invitational in Marathon, NY. Our main goal is trying to advance as many individuals to the State competition as possible, so the focus is still gaining fitness through continuing to practice various speeds and intensities each week through training, while also practicing racing itself at our invites and attaching themselves to other runners.”

Results

Boys

Reece Maopolski (SW), 22:48; Landon Volpe (SW), 22:48; Karl Swanson (SW), 22:48; Gabe Wasner (SW), 24:33; James Walsh (Seward), 28:20; Ethan Kavarnous (SW), 39:20.

Girls

Taylor Vogt, 29:40; Cheyenne Decker, 33:43.

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