Kingston enters season with high hopes
Boys squad must contend with graduation losses
Kingston High cross country is optimistic about the upcoming season, especially on the girls’ side.
The Tigers open the season with their first regular weekday meet on the road at Middletown at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11.
Coach Joe Cahill said his girls team should have a really strong season, while the boys face the challenge of having just three seniors on the roster and losing Robert Becker, who made the state finals and qualified for Federations, where he finished 13th. The other losses include Jayson Hines and Thorr Throwbridge. This year, senior Matt Krom will serve as captain.
The girls are seeking to improve on last year’s third-place finish at the sectionals.
Despite the recent losses, Cahill will field a larger team this year, with around 60 boys and girls. That’s up from 45 last year.
On a recent morning, the girls team ran around the grounds of Saugerties High School during a scrimmage.
As he observed his runners weave around the Sawyers football and boys and girls soccer practices, Cahill said the final weeks leading up the regular season can be hectic as he tries to figure out where everyone stands.
Cahill said his top runners include seniors Maggie Noe, Marine Nimblette, juniors Morgan Juric and Thea Kovaleski, and sophomores Molly Green, Kailyn Oreglio and Amelia Loughlin. He added that, while some of this runners may have trained all summer long, others may not run at all. Still others have jobs, vacations and other commitments that keep them out of practices.
“Right now we have four-five different training groups,” Cahill said.
As the days of practice waned,
Cahill was upping the distances for a 12-mile rail trail run, while also mixing in speed runs. And things weren’t made easier by temperatures that soared into the upper 80s with dew points pushing 70.
Cahill said he’s responded by running practices between 8 and 9:30 a.m. and scheduling frequent water stops during practices.
Looking ahead to the season, Cahill said some of Kingston’s biggest rivals on the boys’ side include Monroe-Woodbury, Washingtonville, Warwick and Cornwall.
On the girls’ side, Goshen, Pine Bush and Newburgh Free Academy look to be some of the biggest hurdles to overcome, he added.
SCHEDULE SEPT. — 11, at Middletown, 4:30 p.m.; 18, Minisink Valley, Burke Catholic at Valley Central, 4:30 p.m.; 25. PINE BUSH, 4:30 p.m. OCT. — 2, at Newburgh Free Academy, 4:30 p.m., 16, MONROE-WOODBURY, 4:30 p.m. —— ROSTER BOYS Seniors Cole Elmendorf, Jordan Hulbert, Matt Krom — Juniors Ian Borrero, Cameron Fairley, Jacob Kirschner, Muhammed Mahmood, Arlo Stone — Sophomores Gabe Bonse, Jack Gallo, Paul Micahel Herrling, Andrew Hill, Trevor Loughlin, Tristan Mochon, Kenneth Straker, Reyhan Quayum — Freshman, Mauricio Castellanos, Hunter Fuller, Connor Hayner, Kade Pike, Payton Lane, Luca Maneri, Facundo Marinez, Zach Martinez, Dylan Muscari, Cesar Perez, Braden Reihbandt, Fionn Roche —— Girls Seniors Maggie Noe, Marine Nimblette, Natalie Robinson, Fiona Zajac — Juniors Morgan Juric, Thea Kovaleski —— Sophomores Gabrielle Burton, Jenna Coddington, Kaitlyn Curran, Annabelle Fisher, Molly Green, Kaliya Hough, Elizabeth Ingellis, and Trinity Kara, Amelia Loughlin, Jenna Markel, Lucymarie Melchionne, Savannah Nimblette, Kailyn Oreglio Amber Rolleri, Hailie TerBush, Carolyn Vargas —— Freshman Gemma D’Aragona, Amelia Fuller, Jazmyne Gouveia, Aislinn Hertle, Haylee Mitchell