Cross Country Notebook: Carmel’s Holt Finishes 3rd at NYS X-C Meet, Muniz 5th
In one of Section 1’s all-time top performances overall, Carmel’s Eric Holt headlined a star-studded field at the NYSPHSAA Cross County championships, placing third overall in Class A with a time of 15:31.2, tops among all Section 1 runners at the Elma Meadows Golf Course in upstate Elma (near Buffalo), NY.
Teammate Benito Muniz placed fifth, clocking in at 15:44.8. Galo Vasquez of Lakeland/Panas was 37th in 16:22.0. Somers’ Justin Zorn checked in at 17:10.9 in the Class B race, good for 70th.
On the girls’ side; Corinne Florie of Mahopac was 38th at 19:09.7 with Brewster’s Ariana Bottalico in 46th at 19:22.6. Carmel’s Andrea Cortina, a talented sophomore, ran a 19:51.0, good for 64th. The trio of Putnam County trotters represented the area with great class and skill.
SECTIONALS
Holt, the Section 1 Class A champion and top harrier at Carmel, ran a 15:48.92 at Bowdoin Park to win the crown. Benito Muniz was third at 16:16.99 with teammate James McQuade sixth, giving Carmel a tremendous trio of kickers. The trio led the Rams to a second place sectional finish behind Arlington. Vaquez was fourth, leading L/P to a fifth-place finish. Mahopac’s Dean Ash (17:17.24) rounded out the top 10. Brewster finished ninth behind the 32nd-place finish of Eric Fedio (18:00.01).
Zorn placed seventh in Class B, leading Somers to fourth.
The Brewster girls finished sixth behind Bottalico, who finished fourth at sectionals. Florie finished second (18: 51.55) and led Mahopac to an eight-place finish.
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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