Greyducks Prepare for Long Season Ahead with Warm-up Meet

At the Regis Invitational meet on Saturday, September 15, the varsity 4000-meter race began. Half an hour later, all the participants in the race had crossed the finish line—but none of them were members of the Greyducks, Stuyvesant’s boys’ cross country team.

Why? The Regis Invitational was just a warm-up for the Greyducks. Coach Carl DiSarno had decided to have some of the varsity members do a workout instead. However, some members of the team participated in the freshman-only, sophomore-only, and junior-only races.

In the junior 4000-meter race, Alex Li was Stuyvesant’s top competitor, finishing in 39th with a time of 16:20.73. He was followed by Jackson Zou, Devin Lin, and Andrew Smsaryan, who placed 48th, 75th, and 76th, respectively. DiSarno commented that Lin, along with sophomore Ezekiel Stahl, are “working very hard and could make the leap to varsity.”

In the sophomore 4000-meter race, sophomore Patrick Ren came in 48th with a time of 17:50.98. Sophomore Ryan Ma placed 78th, and Jimmy Chen 95th. Joseph Abramov was the only participant for the Greyducks in the freshman 2500-meter race, finishing 64th with a time of 11:10.24.

“This meet had races for grades 9-11, so it allowed me to enter some of our varsity-hopefuls in those races instead,” DiSarno said when asked why no varsity members raced. These races gave Disarno the opportunity to evaluate members of the team so he could make a more informed selection for the varsity squad.

On the other hand, “Those who didn’t compete worked out, getting much-needed hill work,” DiSarno said. Practice is one of the most important things in Disarno’s book. “We are still building our mileage and working on improving our stamina. Soon, we will shift to more hill work before we begin our tapering down for the championship season,” he said.

DiSarno and senior and co-captain Caleb Hoo have similar goals and expectations for the Greyducks this season. “I think we are probably a year away from being very competitive in the PSAL once again, but our goals haven't changed,” Hoo said.

Disarno agrees. “We are aiming to win the Manhattan Borough Championship and finish in the top four at the City Championships,” he said. Finishing in the top four would mean that the Greyducks would qualify for state championships.

“This seems to be another rebuilding year for the team. Manhattan isn't strong, so I am sure we will win [the Manhattan Borough Championship] again,” Hoo said. “I expect to make City’s; there's little chance at top three, but we could possibly get fourth if everything goes right.”

But things have not gone right so far. Hoo himself has a lingering injury, and last year’s star runner Baird Johnson is recovering from an injury as well. In addition, one varsity runner was hurt in the escalator accident that saw nine others hurt.

Despite the injuries, DiSarno had nothing but praise for the Greyducks. “The meet went well. It was a good start to the season,” he said. With their coach’s confidence and a lot of practice, the Greyducks have every chance to succeed this season.