Lavan, Michta, O’Gorman Lead Sachem at Nassau Officials XC Invitational

Kelly Lavan became the first Sachem North harrier to break 20 minutes on a 5K course since 1998 at the third annual Nassau Officials XC Invitational held at Old Bethpage Village Restoration Park Saturday.

Lavan’s time of 19:41 placed second in the Varsity Girls 5K race on the rolling course at Old Bethpage. Her time was more the 20 seconds faster than her Sachem home course record set last Tuesday in a dual meet versus Ward Melville.

Katie Michta reached the half mile mark in tenth place in the fast Frosh-Soph race. From that point on, she steadily moved through the field into third place with less than a quarter mile to go in her 4K race. Michta closed the gap on the race leaders and finished third in a time of 16:40 – Sachem’s fastest 4K time of the day.

Junior Siobhan O’Gorman had a career day as she made her own strong move in the JV 4K race. O'Gorman moved up from No. 12 at the half mile mark to second place with under a half mile to go. She held off a chase pack as she ran a career-best per mile pace (7:46 per mile) on her way to a second place finish.

"All Sachem runners enjoyed the scenic park on a great running day," said Sachem coach Alex Young. "The course took all runners through the restoration village as well as through open fields at the park."

The park’s natural beauty in the midst of a 19^th century setting impressed all Sachem runners. Sachem placed second in both the Frosh-Soph and JV 4K races.  Sachem placed fourth in team scoring in the Varsity 5K race.