Rams & Lady Rams x-country runners keep striding over obstacles as delayed fall sports season begins

It isn't what the Port Chester cross-country Rams and Lady Rams wanted to hear going into their first two away meets Thursday (10/15) and Saturday (10/17) against Ossining and White Plains at 4:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively. But it is the reality nonetheless—one that takes away their chance to run in the state championships in November because of the ongoing threat of the coronavirus.

The state federation that runs the prestigious championship events has just cancelled them. That cancellation takes away some of the luster from an already virus-shortened season in which every race that Port Chester runs will be an away dual meet against such schools as cross-town rival Blind Brook (twice), White Plains (twice) and Ossining once.

That decision leaves a potential Ram college scholarship runner like Tommy Perrone disappointed but more determined than ever to run scholarship times in the upcoming dual meets that will still hopefully lead up to a league title run, maybe even sectional championships which have yet to be scheduled.

The masked runners

That isn't going to be easy because the state and Section One health and safety precautions currently mandate that runners must wear masks., maybe even begin races with staggered starts to maintain some semblance of social distancing. So what will happen once racing starts is still up in the air. And that is going to make breathing harder to do. Especially with mask-wearing in races that cover 3.1 miles over hills and dales with a strong finishing kick usually the difference between winning and losing.

But it is what it is in this coronavirus time like no other. And Perrone, twice an All-League x-country runner, three-time captain and perennial Track & Field MVP, is determined to make the most of the opportunity to run at all. "I'll just have to concentrate on the dual meets, hope there is a league championship, maybe even the sectionals, virus permitting, and see what happens," he said. "The important thing is that we are getting a chance to run."

Stoically philosophical

While Perrone is being stoically philosophical, the cancellation of a championship event isn't what he wants to hear. Especially since he has been running an average of 70 miles per week solo during the virus-mandated school shutdown, the cancellation of the spring and summer scholastic sports seasons and the delayed start of the fall x-country season. And he knows all too well how dangerous the virus can be because his grandmother came down with the disease over the summer. Yet he went back to school with some specific goals in mind for his senior year. And those goals include making Port Chester history by breaking every T&F distance running record on the books, from the quarter mile to the half mile, the mile and two-mile runs all the way up to cross-country's 3.1 miles.

What happens next remains to be seen. Because Perrone, his coaches (Kevin Clark and Cindy Reyes Martinez) and his teammates (led by Lady Ram All-League x-country runner Cindy Gonzales) are still digesting the Tuesday (10/13) cancellation announcement that came all the way down from upstate Charlton, the headquarters of the New York State Federation of Secondary Schools Athletic Association (NYSFSSAA) in the southwestern part of Saratoga County, north of Schenectady.

Road less traveled

That's a long way for the bad news to travel about the NYSFSSAA announcing the cancellation of its 2020 Cross Country Championships that had been scheduled for Nov. 18 at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls due to the impact of COVID-19.

In addition to New York State Parks and Recreation not issuing permits for its parks such as Bowdoin Park and Croton Point Park, another traditional championship x-country course for Westchester schools, three of the four associations that comprise the Federation have already cancelled their own championships.

“Due to the continuing public health emergency related to COVID-19, the Federation Board unanimously voted to cancel this year’s Cross-Country Championships,” said Jim Foster, NYSFSSAA executive secretary. “We are disappointed that we won’t be able to give the top runners in New York State a chance to compete in a culminating championship event this year but we understand the health and safety issues that are at the forefront right now.”

Cancelling an event of that importance is a rarity.

In 2018, for example, the Federation was forced to cancel its Cross-Country Championships at Bowdoin Park due to a major snowstorm and in 1987 the races were halted at Green Lakes State Park in Syracuse due to a blizzard. The event has been a longstanding competition since 1974 with Bowdoin hosting the event the last 30 years. Qualifiers from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA), New York City Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL), Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA), and the New York State Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association (AISAA)—all who make up the membership of the NYSFSSAA—advance to the Federation meet each year following their association championships.

Off and running

Section One, which governs the 82 schools in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties, has yet to schedule its championships while waiting to see where the virus is come late November. Port Chester's last x-country meet of the truncated season is scheduled for Nov. 1 when the Rams race in the league championships at White Plains at 9 a.m. while the Lady Rams run in their league championships a day earlier (10/31), same time, same place. The Section One championships could presumably take place a week later.

But all of that is out of the running Rams’ and Lady Rams’ hands. So the team keeps practicing for whatever happens at Crawford Park, the less-experienced harriers running the small loop near the basketball court, a distance of .25 of a mile, or about 400 meters, with repetitions to build up leg strength, while the more established varsity runners tackle what they call the big loop (about a mile) around the center of Crawford. The elite runners stay after practice to get additional mileage under their belts.

What makes those practices different for the Port Chester runners, besides the daily temperature checks and other safety precautions, is the fact that their coaches alternate with their team by running alongside their runners, one doing the running while the other stays behind to motivate the stragglers and latecomers and vice versa.

So the Rams and Lady Rams keep striding under far from ideal circumstances, but hopes are still high for a Rams varsity that includes experienced runners such as seniors Perrone and Jordi Pacheco, juniors Kevin Guaman, Nicholas Loiaconi, William Manos, Christian Gemio, Dylan Reyes and Diego and Gabriel Umanzor and sophomore Andree Palacios. Cindy Gonzales is part of a Lady Rams’ senior contingent that includes co-captains Ava Quartarolo and Emily Sposato, Karen Sanchez and Callie Schultz. They are all anxious to get off and running while waiting for the next shoe to drop which will determine what happens next.