Cross-country: Banino, Baloga, Hogan qualify for Foot Locker Nationals with top-10 finishes
NEW YORK — Myles Hogan should have been grinning. But as he waited Saturday for a medal to be hung around his neck and obligatory photos to be taken, the Hastings resident and Fordham Prep senior rubbed his bare arms, shivered and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but standing outside, dressed in a singlet and shorts, on a cold late November day in the Bronx.
The good news is his wish will soon be granted.
Hogan, Cornwall's Karrie Baloga and Ursuline's Daphne Banino earned trips to San Diego, California and the December 11 Foot Locker Cross-Country National Cross-Country Championships with top-10 finishes in the Eastbay Cross-Country Northeast Regional qualifier in Van Cortlandt Park.
Hogan ran 15:19.3 for fourth place out of 237 in the boys race.
Baloga, who qualified and competed at Foot Locker Nationals two years ago as a freshman, clocked 17:53.2 for fifth and Banino ran 17:53.2 for eighth in the 148-finisher girls race.
"This was really good. It's all I wanted — qualifying," said Baloga, who a week earlier won the girls State Federation (public and private schools) Cross-Country Championship at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.
As a freshman, Baloga found nationals "really exciting," and was "just happy to be there."
This year, Baloga, who was 31.7 seconds behind winner Angelina Perez, a senior at New Jersey's Lakeland Regional High, still wants to do what she did Saturday and arrive with the idea of "soaking it all up and having fun," but she has a placement goal.
As a freshman, she was 11th in the race, so this time, she said, she's aiming for 10th.
Banino's time was No. 3 all-time among Section 1 girls for the Van Cortlandt Park 5K.
Only Suffern's Shelby Greany, who went on to run for Providence College, and Ursuline's Anna Flynn, who went on to run for Boston College, had faster times, Greany's 17:37.7 clocked in 2008 and Flynn's 17:55.7 in 2014.
Banino would have passed on Foot Locker to race in Saturday's Nike Cross Nationals New York qualifier at Bowdoin (where qualifying might have been easier against only New Yorkers, rather than those from multiple Northeastern states), but with the actual Oregon-based Nike Cross Nationals being canceled due to COVID concerns, she opted for the Bronx.
Banino likes running at Van Cort but, despite Ursuline coach Jan Mitchell talking about her running Foot Locker since the early days of this season, she went to the race feeling way shy of confident.
"I didn't think I'd be able to qualify," Banino said flatly.
That thought didn't change when, entering the course's wooded area, she started to fall behind the lead pack.
But then all the hill reps the Sleepy Hollow resident does started to kick in as she passed multiple runners on hills. And with each pass, her confidence grew.
About halfway through the race, she was told she was 11th, one spot out of qualifying.
"That gave me some motivation," Banino said, smiling.
Now it's on to San Diego for her last cross-country race as a high school athlete.
While she and Mitchell may set time and/or place goals, Banino was focused Saturday simply on the prospect of competing.
"I want to shoot high but, at the same time, I'm just ecstatic to be going," she said.
Hogan, who was 12.8 seconds behind winner Gavin Sherry of Conard High in Connecticut, said qualifying for San Diego, where the temperature was in the 70s Saturday, compared to Van Cort's 40s, was "kind of a goal all year."
He started racing cross-country a little late this season with the goal of qualifying for nationals and has found himself "peaking at the right time," Hogan said.
"The other guys went out pretty hard (today)," he said, noting he was about 15th hitting the hills. But he likes hills and he moved up to as high as third before LaSalle Institute's Gitch Hayes, a friend who last week edged Hogan for the boys State Fed title, passed him for third.
"Gitch beat me at the end, but I'm still very happy," Hogan said.
Other local finishers
Yorktown's Sydney Leitner, who has had a very strong season and will run for Binghamton next year, just missed qualifying with an 11th-place 18:11.6.
Bronxville's Ava Black was 58th (19:41.3), White Plains' Sophie Ginsberg was 87th (20:11.8), Ursuline's Stella Gassman was 123rd (21:45.8) and White Plains' Ariana Allende was 141st (23:30.4).
On the boys side, Rye resident Lucas Pombo, a senior at Connecticut's Brunswick School, crossed in 16:55.5 for 90th, Pleasantville's Alex Searle (17:24) was 112th; Yorktown's William McCarthy ran 17:33.6 for 127th and Dobbs Ferry's Marc Lucasey (18:08.2) was 166th.
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Other local finishers
Yorktown's Sydney Leitner, who has had a very strong season and will run for Binghamton next year, just missed qualifying with an 11th-place 18:11.6.
Bronxville's Ava Black was 58th (19:41.3), White Plains' Sophie Ginsberg was 87th (20:11.8), Ursuline's Stella Gassman was 123rd (21:45.8) and White Plains' Ariana Allende was 141st (23:30.4).
On the boys side, Rye resident Lucas Pombo, a senior at Connecticut's Brunswick School, crossed in 16:55.5 for 90th, Pleasantville's Alex Searle (17:24) was 112th; Yorktown's William McCarthy ran 17:33.6 for 127th; Dobbs Ferry's Marc Lucasey (8:08.2) was 166th;
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Cross-country: Banino, Baloga, Hogan heading to nationals in San Diego
