Zariel Macchia, Ryan Sykes Keep Momentum Going By Adding Feds/NXR Titles To State Meet Wins

By Oliver Hinson for DyeStat

John Nepolitan photos - GIRLS | BOYS

INTERVIEWS/VIDEOS

Zariel Macchia checked the first of four boxes today in her ambitious nationals double, surging late to win the girls New York Federation Championships at NXR race. 

Macchia said she was a little sick coming into the race, and she knew there would be a lot of runners hanging with her, but she used that as motivation.

“I was pretty confident definitely after the state meet,” Macchia said. “I knew there was going to be good competition… but I was really looking forward to that and excited for the challenge.”

Macchia will have a busy next three weeks, to say the least. She will race at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional on Nov. 30 in Boston and NXN in Portland on Dec. 7, and if she qualifies for Foot Locker Nationals, she will race in San Diego on Dec. 14. Macchia said she recovers quickly from her efforts, so she is not worried about racing four times in four weeks.

Bethlehem, meanwhile, showed why they’re the top-ranked squad in the nation, winning the team competition with just 43 points. Last week, the Eagles of Delmar cruised through the New York state meet with just 20 points. On Saturday, three of their top five were in the top 15 overall, led by eighth grader Sophia Cromczak. 

Cromczak has been on the radar in New York for years, but this year she has made a name for herself on the national stage. She took third at the Manhattan College Invitational and eighth at the New York state meet. As Macchia heads off to BYU, Cromczak could become the next star of New York cross country.

Shenendehowa finished second in the team race, led by junior Leyla Bhusri, who challenged Machia up until the final 200 meters. This was Shen's fourth time qualifying for NXN, and Bhusri said it felt great to lead her team back to nationals.

“I just thought about my team the entire way,” Bhusri said. “I didn’t really care how I felt. I just wanted to do it for them.”

Bhusri was right behind Macchia for most of the race, only slipping at the very end.

East Aurora senior Emilia O’Leary, a Providence commit, took third overall and grabbed the second individual qualifying spot. Last year, she was fifth at this meet and 88th at NXN.

The other individual qualifiers were Fiorello H. LaGuardia’s Naomi Douglas, Auburn’s Kyleen Brady and Comsewogue’s Lexie Cole. Brady finished over one minute faster and 32 places higher than she did last year; she said she was dealing with pneumonia last year, but she is back at full strength.

The boys race was the tightest of the day between the New York and Northeast meets. Monroe-Woodbury eked out the top spot with 133 points, marking the team's second straight qualification for NXN. 

Top finisher Shane Golio said their team culture is one of the most important parts of Monroe-Woodbury's success and that it felt great to continue in the footsteps of some of their past teammates.

“It felt really empowering for us,” Golio said, “Especially all the seniors who have had teammates like (former New York Federation champion) Collin Gilstrap and Oliver Jibb come through the program, who have led this team very well… it’s been an incredible feeling to keep Monroe-Woodbury alive.”

Xavier, from New York's Catholic schools league, took the second team spot with 152 points. The Knights didn’t have a single runner in the top 25 overall, but their depth was key; they boasted a 1-5 spread of just 40 seconds.

Ryan Sykes, a sophomore from Horace Greeley, took the individual win with a late charge. He said he took the lead after the first major downhill portion of the race, but runner-up Thomas Isenovski, a junior from Saratoga Springs, caught up to him with about 800 meters left. Sykes said he knew he had to surge again, and he did just that, winning by six seconds.

“I just sprinted for my life,” Sykes said, “and I made it.”

That’s a familiar feeling for Sykes; at the New York state meet, he beat Colonie’s Owen Conley by just half a second. Isenovski was also in that race, finishing just behind in third.

Unlike any of the other races on the day, all of the NXN individual spots went to the top five overall individuals. Third place went to William Tempest, a senior from Sutherland. Tri-Valley senior Van Furman finished fourth, and Schalmont senior Carter Flowers took the last spot.

Flowers, New York's Class C champion, said he wasn’t on most people’s minds coming into the race, but he had confidence in himself the entire way.

“I knew I wasn’t predicted to be in the top five,” Flowers said, “but I knew people were sleeping on me, and now they’re not sleeping on me, so that’s great.”

Flowers and the rest of the qualifiers will run at Nike Cross Nationals on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, OR.