By Kate McLaughlin
Irvington Cross Country had an admirable 2022 season. The team worked to prove themselves throughout their entire season but went above and beyond their abilities in sectionals.
Both the Boys’ and Girls’ teams are placed in Class C for Section 1. This said they were up against tough competitors such as Briarcliff, Bronxville, Pleasantville, and Hastings.
Luciana Forte and Indy Minkoff were Irvington’s top competitors in the sectionals race this year, each qualifying for a spot in the state race.
In the Boys’ race, Junior runner Indy Minkoff placed fourth in his race with an impressive time of 17:42.50. With this, Minkoff qualified for the state championships for the second year in a row.
“I’m really glad I got to go to states this year, and it was a really fun experience getting to see the best runners in the state. I’m just really grateful for my coach and my team who helped me work hard this season to get me here,” said Minkoff.
Although Minkoff was the only member of the Boys’ team to qualify, the Bulldogs saw an excellent race from Sophomore, Anish Joshi who came up just short and ended up placing 9th in the race with a time of 17:55.80, trailing the runner in front of him by just 1.5 seconds.
In the girls’ race, senior Luciana Forte placed fifth in her race, finishing with a time of 20:54.60. This outstanding race pushed Forte to qualify for the state championships along with Minkoff.
The state championships were held on November 12, at Vernon Verona Sherill High School. Minkoff placed 13th in the boys’ state race with a time of 17:40.1. Forte finished 33rd in the state with a time of 21:11.2.
Irvington Cross Country had a historical 2021 season last fall. Runners from the boys’ team including but not limited to captains Liam Lyons, Lucas Turano, and Mitch Milun qualified for the state race.
When asked about his 2021 team, Coach Christopher Barry said, “right from the beginning, you could see that we might be the best team, and it turned out they were,”.
“Last year went great so this year it’s obviously tough to match that. In the end, getting our best boy and our best girl to go to states was a great thing. We’re really proud of them.” said Coach Barry.
