t’s been an eventful season for the Goshen varsity cross country teams, with many athletes showing a great deal of improvement, leaders emerging from the shadows, and champions in the making.
As a result of the torrential rains this past summer, the iconic Bear Mountain course was out of commission and both the OCIAA Championship and Section IX Championship meets were held at Warwick’s Sanfordville Elementary School. While some athletes missed the history and nostalgia of Bear Mountain, most welcomed the all-grass course at Warwick.
The Section IX Championship meet was held on Saturday, Nov. 4. Noah Klugman once again led the Gladiators, running a personal best 16:11 to win the race, for his first individual Section IX Championship victory. Klugman’s time is the second-fastest time for a Goshen athlete on the Sanfordville course in program history and the fastest since 2017.
Many of the other boys also showed great improvement at Sections. Junior Kiran Foster finished in 17:47, which is close to his Warwick course PR. Senior captain Kia Ghezel-Ayagh continued to improve, running 18:20. Freshman Phoenix Andryshak has demonstrated one of the most significant improvements this season, running 18:50. Also running personal bests at Warwick were Matthew Douglas (19:01), Patrick Cahill (19:55), and Jeremy Cruz Daza (19:58).
The girls team was led by senior Julia Radjenovic, who finished in 6th place. Radjenovic ran a personal best of 19:41 for 5th place and the second of five qualifying spots for States. Next to cross the finish line for the Lady Glads was senior Gianna Catalano who ran 20:32 for 9th place and the fourth qualifying spot for States. Senior Dylin Duggan was the next Goshen runner to cross the finish line in 22:16. Showing marked improvement was freshman Grace McAndrews (23:35). Rounding out the top seven Lady Glads were the freshman trio of Zoey Zhang (24:20), Gemma Maxwell (25:36), and Anna Heater (26:28).
At the New York State Championship meet held at Vernon Verona Sherrill High School, Noah Klugman delivered an outstanding performance. Klugman ended up getting boxed-in early on, and at one point was 35th, but worked his way up to finish in 15th place overall, running 16:54 and earning himself a medal. Klugman’s cross country season will continue for another week, as he was selected as a representative of Section IX at the New York State Federation Championship meet being held on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.
Seniors Julia Radjenovic and Gianna Catalano represented Goshen and Section IX at the New York State Cross Country Championship meet with pride. Radjenovic finished in 39th place overall with a time of 20:34 and Catalano finished in 82nd place, running 21:44.
Klugman looks to add to the Goshen legacy of fine performances at Bowdoin Park on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. If you can’t make it to Bowdoin, there will be full coverage on the team’s Instagram account (@goshenxctf).
By: Kyle Lewis, Jacqueline Savoia, Grant Boyd, & Richard Furst