Bellmore, NY - Representatives from the Nassau and Suffolk County Track Coaches Associations, NSCHSSA, and USATF Long Island have come together to select the All Long Island athletes for this spring’s cross-country season. Performances throughout the condensed season were analyzed, discussed, and debated with an emphasis placed on performances from the championship meets and speed ratings accumulated throughout the season.
A total of sixty athletes, thirty three male and thirty three female, were selected as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd team All Long Island. The first eleven selections comprise the list for the 1st team, followed by #12-22 being named 2nd team, and #23-33 rounding out the honorees with 3rd team recognition.
The 2020-2021 cross-country season was a unique, but successful endeavor for the distance runners of Long Island and is highlighted by the committee’s selection of Co-Most Outstanding Runners of the Season. On the boys’ side we recognize the seasons of Zach Van Houten (East Meadow) and Gavin Ehlers (Westhampton), while the girls’ were led on their courses by Ana Markovina (Jericho) and Zariel Macchia (William Floyd).
Van Houten posted the fastest time of the season at Eisenhower Park, completing the course in 15:19.2 and remained undefeated throughout the season. He was the County 1 and Section VIII individual champion. Ehlers likewise posted the fastest 4k time at Sunken Meadow, finishing in 12:47.6 at the Section XI Divisional Championships and earned him a season-best 183 speed rating from Tully Runners.
Markovina was undefeated as well this season, winning the individual County II and Section VIII championships with a season-best time of 17:50.5 at Eisenhower Park. Macchia was the individual Division Champion in Suffolk County, pacing herself to a best time of 14:49.9 for the Sunken Meadow 4k course. Both runners had a season-high speed rating of 134 according to www.tullyrunners.com.
Team rankings were done by scoring the speed ranking merge and any head to head competitions in championship meets.
The Long Island Track and Field Coaches Association would like to congratulate all of these outstanding athletes on a very memorable and successful cross-country campaign. We would additionally like to thank Bill Meylan and Tully Runners for providing the speed rankings in helping us to determine our honorees. Future All Long Island selections for cross-country and track and field will be made annually after the conclusion of each season.
Complete listing of Boys and Girls Cross Country Teams found here