Colts Cross Country Pumped and Ready for State Championships

The Calhoun boys cross country team is in top form following its second consecutive county championship, crushing its nearest competition, three-time defending Class AA champion Port Washington this past Saturday at Bethpage State Park by 63 points.  

Now the boys are hungry for more.  On Saturday, they take the next step and head up to Pawling, located in the Hudson Valley, the site of the 2010 state championships. However, it has been a long road up filled with a lot of preparation and combined efforts to get to this point.

“We’ve put in 500 miles during the season, 70-mile weeks, and that is a lot of distance, so now we are trying to make our legs feel good now,” Calhoun head coach David Hendler told Patch. “On paper, we are not the favorites, but you never count these guys out. These guys always outperform what I think they are going to do. They constantly surprise me.”  

The Colts have some of the top runners in the county, including James Panetta who narrowly missed an individual county title with a time of 15:57 in the 5K at Bethpage. Six of the seven runners who will be representing Calhoun ran their personal best times at that meet.  

“Since early in the season, sub-16 has been a goal for me and was very happy when I got under,” Panetta said. “At states, since it is a harder course, I hope to run an equivalent time at that specific course.”

Equivalent ratings, also known as speed ratings, at specific courses have the course difficulty factored into an “equivalent time” for a runner.  

Tim Campbell has always been hot on the heels of Panetta as the two consistently challenge each other. Campbell finished the county meet with a time of 16:10.  

“One thing about being on this team is that James and I are so close in running that we are always able to push each other,” Campbell said. “I hope to do the same come this Saturday along with all of our guys. It will be tough but I think if we all run our best, we will be right there in the mix.”  

Brendan Abrams, who finished counties with a time of 16:34, recognizes the importance of his teammates, especially when it comes time for Saturday’s state meet.  

“We are all pretty close in skill level, so that always helps us in our workouts,” Abrams said. “We all like to use famous running quotes like one from Steve Prefontaine saying, ‘To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.' Now for us, it’s just a matter of going out and doing it.”  

Casey Bader, like coach Hendler and his teammates, know very well of the magnitude of this weekend, comparable to when they raced at the 2009 state meet in Plattsburg.  

“I want to use the competitive nature of the state tournament itself to get myself motivated,” Bader said. “All our training has been done and we are ready to run. It’s all about being ready on the day of the race.”

Nick Macaluso was another Colt runner who had an impressive showing at Bethpage with a time of 16:50, helping his team exceed many peoples’ expectations. 

“I think we definitely have a shot since we did really well at counties, much better than a lot of people out there expected," Macaluso said. "I hope that it will be an advantage for us having seen the state course before.” 

Many of the runners, like Macaluso, pointed out the importance of having prior knowledge of the course they will be competing on in order to properly strategize. Kenny Woo, who ran a time of 16:57 at counties, commented on that advantage of previously running in Pawling.  

“The biggest thing is that there is this one big hill about a mile into the race compared to Bethpage where there are really none,” Woo said. “You have to figure out how you are going to work up to this hill and what you are going to do after it.”  

Nick Haile rounds out the Calhoun top-seven for the state meet. Haile ran a time of 17:18 at the counties last week.  

“Last year at states, I ran a lot faster than I did at counties this year," he said, "mainly because of the better competition, but I’m really looking forward to it this time."  

Fayetteville Manlius (Sect. III), Shaker (Sect. II), and Warwick (Sect. IX) are slated to be amongst Calhoun’s top competition.  

“This is their time,” Hendler said of his boys.  “They know exactly what they have to do to be successful here.”

Best of luck to all of the Colts in Pawling!