Cross Country: Wasserman, John Jay girls win Westchester titles

The John Jay girls varsity team from left, Mia Haimelin, Maya Serai, Ainsley Graham, Emma Barniv, Brodie Alber, and Sloan Wasserman at the starting line on their way to winning the team title at the Westchester County Championships.  Jim MacLean photos

From the left, Sloan Wasserman was all alone in front, more than 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Maya Serai was sixth overall and the second finisher for John Jay. Marc Desforges led the way for Fox Lane with a fourth-place finish in the boys race. Victoria Ransom was the top finisher for the Fox Lane girls team. Jacques Desforges takes off with the pack at the start of the race.

By JIM MACLEAN

It was a year later, on the same course, the same weather, but a very different outcome for John Jay senior Sloan Wasserman as she competed in the Westchester County Cross Country Championship race on Saturday, Oct. 25, in Milton, N.Y.

Last year Wasserman was disappointed with her third place finish. This year she was determined to change the finish, competing for the first time this season against Adriana Petinelli of Scarsdale, who finished in front of Wasserman last year in second place. Wasserman jumped out to the lead right from the start and never looked back, cruising to victory with a time of 16:54.1, more than 35 seconds ahead of Petinelli in second place.

“I wanted to win this race really bad, I had a lot of confidence coming in and it went well,” admitted Wasserman. “We went out a little slow in the beginning so that cost me some time, but this was a good day and I’m happy to just get out here and win this race.”

And it was a good day overall for the entire John Jay girls varsity team. With Wasserman leading the way in first place, John Jay dominated the field and ran away with the team title. It is a big event with a total of 37 different schools from the county sending runners to compete, with almost 200 runners entered in the girls varsity race, and John Jay had all six of its runners finish among the top 22 runners to win the team title with a score of 49, more than 50 points ahead of second-place finisher Bronxville at 101.

In addition to Wasserman in first place, John Jay had Maya Serai finish in the top ten in sixth place overall. Emma Barniv was the third John Jay runner to finish as she was the 12th runner to cross the finish line, and teammate Brodie Albert was right behind in 13th place. Mia Haimelin was 17th, and Ainsley Graham was 22nd overall to round out the team score for the Wolves.

“We’re a really good team and we’re really pushing each other, just super motivated getting out there every single day,” Wasserman said of her teammates. “We have some big goals now, and the fact that we all want to win this together is making it a really special season.”

With the Westchester County title secured, John Jay will now set its goal on competing for a Section 1 title and a chance to earn a trip to the New York state championships as a team.

“I’m really proud of this team,” said fellow senior Emma Barniv. “This is so exciting, the team environment this year, everyone is so supportive of each other helping us to achieve our goals, pushing each other to get better. We challenge each other every day hoping to win the section and make it to states.”

After accepting its County Champion team plaque, John Jay coach Dey Dey said that this team is just beginning to see its potential and understand what the Wolves can accomplish in the coming weeks.

“Sloan was very impressive,” Dey said of Wasserman. “This team is now realizing that all the hard work they have done all year is coming to this. They have a good chance to show it the next few weeks starting here and then sectionals and hopefully get to states. Maya keeps getting better and better, Brodie too, our freshmen, and Emma is running well and this race will give her a little more confidence. We have a really good team and I know they all can do even better.”

Fox Lane also participated in the county championships and finished 12th overall in the girls varsity race. Victoria Ransom was the first finisher for the Foxes in 49th place, followed by Natalie Desforges in 61st, Alexandra Ransom in 63rd, and Isabella Ransom in 119th.

“My instructions for today was to get out fast, knowing this is a fast course and how big the field is, and then fight to hold on and rely on their training and I was very pleased,” said Fox Lane girls coach Steve Petrillo of his team. “The field is so big, 10 seconds is like 15 places and you have to fight for every spot you can get, and they did and I’m proud of them.”

In the boys varsity race, Fox Lane finished 11th overall out of 34 teams with a score of 296, and John Jay was right behind them in 12th place at 321.

Marc Desforges continued his impressive senior season as he finished fourth overall in the boys race with a time of 15:35.8. Rohan Patel was the first finisher for John Jay in 18th overall.

Jacques Desforges was the second finisher for Fox Lane in 31st, followed by Luke Sweeney in 86th, Spencer Eigel in 93rd, and James MacDonald in 96th.

William George was the second John Jay finisher in 63rd, with teammate Matthew Ebert right behind in 64th. Tarun Patel was 69th and Jacob Chiang was 118th for the Wolves to complete the top five for the Wolves.