By Melanie Cane
<<Rye High School>>
The RHS Cross-Country team warming up on the track in the rain.
While Rye High School superstar Natalie Weiner moved to Bronxville over the summer and two female and three male runners graduated, all the other runners on the team have returned. And the Boys’ team added 17 freshmen.
Head coach Michael Szarkowicz expects Marek Nowak to continue to excel. Last season Nowak was 8th in Section 1 Class B and is looking to be in the top five this year. “The Boy’s team has a lot of depth, which we hope translates into a great season,” said Coach Szarkowicz.
On the Girls’ team, Elena Perez Segnini —a soccer convert — looks to build on her 2016 indoor and outdoor track seasons.
Coach Szarkowicz and the Girls’ coach Blair Monahan look forward to seeing how the young runners perform. “With so many freshmen on the Boys’ team and a lot of sophomores on the Girls’, it will be exciting to see new young talent improve year to year.”
Their first meet is the Bear Mountain Invitational September 9.
——————
<<Rye Country Day>>
Captains Ed Abrama, Rick Burke, Sarah Colin, and Luci Rochat leading the stretching.
Coach Ethan White is pleased to be at the helm of the largest Wildcat team he has had in his 13 years of coaching. Twenty of the 47 runners are new to the team.
Boys’ captains Ed Abrams and Rick Burke and Girls’ captains Lucie Rochat and Sarah Colin have done a great job welcoming their teammates and providing motivation, according to Coach White.
The four captains are the team’s strongest runners and he expects them to have successful seasons. The coach says he is looking forward to watching all his runners develop.
Their first meet is September 13 at Sherwood Island in Westport.