What I will try to convey to you right now, I don’t believe can entirely be done. You see, the cross country team we’ve become and the immense brotherhood involved is something not everyone has the satisfaction and joy of experiencing or comprehending. It is for the sake of our team that I am writing this, as a sort of “thank you.”

Our foundations lie deep in the team of a few years back, when the personalities of Chris Castellano, Chris Kaminski, and Greg Weber (just to name a few), were alive and well on the team. They set the stage for the miracle to come this year. Coming up just short of the county title for another consecutive year in 05', myself and co-captain Brian Richman were determined to motivate our guys to work until our lungs were bleeding to give our team the well deserved title of County Champions, not only for ourselves but for our predecessors. Their graduation last year only strengthened their spirits on Wantagh Cross Country this year.

From July 1st, 2006 to November 11th, 2006, our Varsity boys sacrificed and suffered to no end, for glory, for triumph, and also for the men running beside us. At the start of our season in July, victory was merely a wish, miles away. Despite the blistering heat, the Varsity boys ran 4-8 mile days 6 days a week, sacrificing summer relaxation and overly late nights. When the season actually began in late August, the almighty Bill Hedgecock worked us harder than he’s worked a team in years. The self-determination our guys had was unbelievable, looking back at all the fast paced mile repeats done and long endurance runs. The pain we went through together was definitive of our companionship.

We started off the season strong when school began, doing very well at Sunken Meadow invitationals with almost every member scoring a medal or shirt. Even when it looked pretty dim that the mighty Lynbrook(who was also better this year than they have been in a while) might be beatable this year, we purged on and worked harder. We did everything together. We ate together at pasta parties, we hung out all the time, and we even dressed together, like when we all wore our short shorts to school to boost morale for one of the meets. When it came time to face Lynbrook at regular Dual Meet, we acknowledged the possibility that the voodoo dolls and insane practices weren’t working. When Lynbrook beat us by ten points, we were wholeheartedly dismayed. Maybe it wasn’t all worth it? Maybe we just couldn’t beat them...

Although we still had a chance to beat them at the Conference Meet and the County Meet, it just didn’t seem that likely. When Bethpage State Park had to close down because of inclement weather, the Conference Meet was cancelled, and the board of running directors declared that they would determine Conference Champions through the County race. A lot was on the line for us. We continued to practice hard the weeks before the county race, and finally, it paid off. On October 28th, 2006, our top seven guys stepped up to the starting line shakily, unsure of what the outcome would be. All that reverberated in our heads was our coach’s advice to trust our workouts and our ability. Although Lynbrook ran a race uncharacteristically poor, Wantagh ran amazingly. All top seven boys ran personal records, three of which received “All County” recommendations and all of them placing within the 60 best runners in the county. Not only did the boys defeat Lynbrook, but they also crossed over and beat every team from the larger schools in higher classes. On that day Wantagh Cross Country became true champions.

On the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, in the eleventh lane, the Wantagh Varsity men were given the opportunity to run with the best in the state. Staying overnight in a hotel with all the other Nassau County qualifiers the night before, the Wantagh cross country team ran at Warwick for the State Meet. This accomplishment put a cap on everything we slaved for that season. Everything we worked for all mattered. This is where we wanted it to end. It was all a true “Cinderella Story.” The upstate course was much different from what Wantagh normally sees, with absolutely no level ground and hay everywhere. As a result, no Wantagh runner ran a personal record, but Arquimedes DelaCruz, a sophomore, was four places away from achieving “All State” recommendations.

So to our top five sophomores, Chris Lewis, Andrew Coelho, Tommy Clark, Arquimedes DelaCruz, and John Greisheimer, I sincerely thank you for what you’ve given me. Even if we didn’t make it this far, your brotherhood would have been enough. A special thanks to my co-captain Brian Richman and our amazing predecessors. Of course a thank you to our great coach Hedgecock, who taught us so much about ourselves and put up with us. Also a warm thanks to our parents and supporters from the rest of the team for believing in us. There’s still so much I left out but this is the heart of it. Well, if this isn’t closure to a great high school cross country career, I don’t know what is. Farewell Wantagh Cross Country. We still stop for no one....