Season Preview: Pleasantville HS Cross Country

Boys

Tom Patterson is entering his second year coaching cross country at and with that comes a familiarity with the athletes he’s coaching.

“I am much more familiar with the runners now early in the season compared from what they could do last year,” Patterson said. “I am able to focus on each individual’s capabilities.”

One of those individuals is junior Joe Bennetti, who Patterson described as a very gritty runner.

Patterson characterized sophomore Zeke Brynin as a very well-conditioned machine.

“He swims year-round, so from a cardiovascular standpoint he is in perfect shape,” Patterson said. “By his senior year, if he keeps progressing, he could be one of the top runners in the county.”

Junior co-captains Charlie Carway and Kyle Sanduski's styles are both very similar.

“I talk about Kyle and Charlie in the same breath, that is why I picked them as captains,” Patterson said. “They are both very dedicated and focused and I can count on them on being in the top seven during the year.”

“After those four, we have a large contingent of others that will be competing for our top seven varsity spots,” Patterson continued. “From a coaches standpoint I like that because there will be a lot of healthy competition for those spots.”

Patterson said that he doesn’t know what to expect yet from the boys.

“We are a very young team,” Patterson said. “We graduated our top three runners from last year. What I have been telling the guys is that if you work hard and everyone can show about a minute improvement from what they did last year, we very well could be competitive for a league title but Briarcliff is the class of the field. They are going to be very tough to beat this year.”

Girls

Like the boys, the girls are a very young team with no seniors.

“It’s kind of exciting for the future,” Patterson said. “We will see how we do this year.”

Patterson expects junior co-captain Emily Perrotti to stand out.

“The consummate teammate,” Patterson said “She is always there working hard despite having to work through a lot of injuries. She is always there and takes the team leadership role on the course and off the course.”

Junior co-captain Alyssa DiBenedetto should also enjoy a standout campaign.

“She worked very hard over the summer and she came back this fall in very good shape and I expect to see a tremendous improvement from her,” Patterson said.

Sophomore Jianna Bennetti, Joe’s sister, was one of the Panthers’ top three runners last year and Patterson expects her to be in the top three again this year.

“She’s got a lot of talent and she’s a gutsy runner,” Patterson said.

Juniors Francesca Marino is expected to contribute to the Panthers cause as well.

As a team, Patterson said he is cautiously optimistic about his team’s chance of success.

“Again, it’s a very young team but we got most of the team from last year returning from the team that finished second in the league meet and we got some talented newcomers,” Patterson said. “We could be very competitive."