Nov. 15, 2023
By Anastasia Loutroutzis
Webmaster
This season was filled with accomplishments for some of the cross country team’s new and returning runners.
Sophomore Aidan Nogueira, who joined the team this year, qualified for the Group 2 Championship meet, which took place on Nov. 4 at Holmdel Park.
Senior captain of the cross country team Samil Basci, who is the only senior out of 30 runners, completed his second and final season at the state sectional championships at Greystone Park in Morris Plains on Oct. 28.
“I am sad about being a senior and that [it was] my last year on the cross country team,” Basci said. “But I’m also happy because the last two years of cross country have been the greatest seasons of my athletic career.”
Basci said he had to step up as a leader this season because the only two returning varsity runners were himself and junior Gianna Scardino.
“It’s a sport I never thought I would ever do, but it’s honestly one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
“I keep everybody motivated and push them to work harder and become better. I show them the ropes and help them understand their duties,” Basci said. “This year our team has had a rough season, especially with all the new freshmen who have never run before, but I believe there is a lot of potential for success next year.”
Scardino, who joined varsity last year, also said she sees promise in her younger team members.
“Our team may be small, but most of the girls on the team are freshmen, and they are really talented,” Scardino said. “Watch out for some titles being won by them in years to come.”
She said she is sad the cross country season is now over.
“It’s a sport I never thought I would ever do, but it’s honestly one of the best things I’ve ever done,” Scardino said. “I’ll be counting down the days until my next [season] starts.”
Assistant Coach Carucci, who has been coaching the cross country team for five years, said his goal this season was to give the runners a chance to gain experience.
“We came into the year with most of the runners never having run an actual 5K and some runners having not run certain courses,” Carucci said. “So, it’s all about learning how to race, becoming familiar with courses and learning how to properly train.”
Carucci said the team prepared for its meets by doing easy runs, long runs and workouts at practices.
“We come to work each and every day,” Carucci said. “The team knows they need to do that… to improve and put ourselves in a position to be competitive in 2024.”
