Hastings Runners Register Presence at Brewster Bear Classic

The Brewster Bear Classic, an immense tri-state competition featuring over 1,600 runners at JFK Elementary School (Brewster, N.Y.)  was a yardstick meet for the upstart Hastings boys cross-country team.

At the end of a long, sun-splashed afternoon, Hastings proved to be a legitimate conference contender. 

The Yellow Jackets' lineup has been bolstered by the addition of 8th grader Jamie Callabos, who coasted to a first-place finish during a dual meet at Ardsley last week.  

With Callabos being elevated to the Varsity ranks, the Jackets now have a significant 1-2-3 punch to place in the top bracket.

The triumvirate of Jared Scharf, Mike Stein, and Callabos will dictate how Hastings performs over the next couple of weeks. The meets get bigger and bigger during this period, with the Oct.12 league meet at Irvington High School circled in the calender.

"He changes the dynamic of the league," said Hastings senior captain Jared Sharf of his prodigious teammate.

 "Jamie just adds a new dimension to our team. His times have been very impressive. By the time he's a junior or a senior he could be a state champion- caliber runner. He's just so young and has so much talent."

On paper, the Jackets are still inferior to Irvington and Dobbs Ferry due to lack of depth and front line runners.

With the addition of Callabos to the front line, however, Hastings could sneak up on two of their Rivertowns Rivals and contend for the title. They could play the role of spoiler for at least one team.

This is high school cross-country, after all. One injury, one missed opportunity to place in the four or five hole can change the outcome of the meet.

Questions surrounding the Caballos' endurance were swiftly answered at jam-packed Brewster on Saturday, finishing amongst the Top Ten Section 1/Westchester County finishers in the Varsity III grouping.

Miller Place High School won the meet, eking out a tight one-point victory over second place New Paltz.  

Callabos finished 33rd overall, sealing off Iona Prep's Sean Watson (who was looking to pass the middle schooler on a corner route but never made his move) before sprinting out the final 200 meters.

 Scharf was once again the catalyst. In a pulse-pumping finish where he extended his stride, pumped his arms, and let his momentum carry him to the finish line, Scharf established a new personal record with a time of 17:04.

 With his fastest ever 5K race, Scharf finished 11th overall.

This new personal best puts Scharf in some elite company, making him the second fastest 5K runner in school history.

He shattered his previous personal best—which he set last year during a Hastings home meet—by nearly 20 seconds.

"Everything was clicking for me," said Scharf. "I mean, I was just really amped up for this race. I liked the course and I think I adjusted well to it. A lot of factors contributed to me turning in that type of performance: I stretched thoroughly, I got water at the right times before the race. It's a great feeling."

Scharf, who ran an 18:10 and then 18:11 in his previous races, had been gunning to break the 18-minute barrier as he did last year. With the adrenaline burst and vigorous race, he almost broke the 17-minute barrier.

New Paltz' speed merchant Brian Busby emerged as the individual winner.

Busby pulled out in front, clocking a 16:05 on a fast course that featured three loops around JFK elementary school and a dash into the woods and around trailways.

Though they did not place in the top-seven team-wise, the Hastings girls cross-country team left their footprints on the 33rd Brewster Bear Classic.

Hastings gave an accurate account of itself, with veteran Emma Sander finishing third overall in the girls Varsity III grouping.

Emily Polstein, a crucial piece of the conglomerate ever since recently graduated Nora Howe helped rejuvenate an ailing program, closely gave chase to Sander.

Polstein would end up a few lengths behind her teammate, finishing in fifth place.

Securing the no.3 and no.5 spots in a race of this magnitude helps Hastings garner some tri-state visibility. 

Lauren Wilt finished eighth, fending off a pack of Holy Child and Ursuline harriers.

Ultimately, Ursuline's strength in numbers helped them place second with 67 points. Red Hook captured first.

Gabby Mancuso of New Paltz emerged as the individual victor.

Flying around the course and holding a thick margin on the second-place finisher, Mancuso was clocked at a blazing-hot 18:58.

Hastings' top three wisely took last week's dual meet off, using the rest as a method of preserving fresh legs for Brewster.

They performed shorter distance workouts and timed trials at Reynolds Field instead.

The move seemed to pay dividends for the Yellow Jackets.

Hastings is now Bronx-bound. The girls and boys teams will compete in one of the biggest cross-country meets in the nation at Van Cortland Park's famed 2.5 mile course this weekend.