Boys Soccer Clinches Playoff Berth, J.V. Football Wins

Ryan Fowkes, East Hampton High’s standout senior cross-country runner, , the country’s largest high school cross-country race, Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

Kevin Barry, who left some of his competitors at home “because they’ve been racing a lot and needed a rest,” said in an email Monday that Fowkes had covered “the famous 2.5-mile course” in 13 minutes and 29 seconds, reportedly a personal best for him at that distance. Three of the dozen freshmen Berry has, Aidan Klarman, Luke Brunn, and Hector Maldonado, medaled in the 1.25-mile freshman race — Klarman in 6:39, Brunn in 7:21, and Maldonado in 7:22.

Diane O’Donnell, East Hampton’s girls coach, said Ava Engstrom and Bella Tarbet, who are sophomores, also medaled, Engstrom for having finished 19th and Tarbet 49th in a 198-runner field. Engstrom’s time over the 2.5-mile course was 15:55, Tarbet’s 16:47. Emma Hren (18:00), Stella McCormack (21:33), Megan Fowkes (21:45), and Sydney Salamy (22:34) also ran. Hren and McCormack are ninth graders, Fowkes is a junior, and Salamy is a senior.

While Van Cortlandt’s course was “not easy by any means,” it was “not as hard as Sunken Meadow,” O’Donnell said.

The girls, said O’Donnell, have won two league meets thus far, over Amityville and Miller Place. The boys, who also have a couple of wins, lost twice in a tri meet at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park last week, to Sayville and Miller Place, by 25-30 margins.

Fowkes, hampered by a stomach bug, placed third, behind two Miller Place runners. Evan Masi, Joshua Vazquez, and Klarman, all freshmen, were the next East Hamptoners to score, Masi placing eighth, Vazquez 11th, and Klarman 12th. Mikko Negroponte, a sophomore, “who is improving with every race,” was 13th, the final Bonacker to be scored.

“Next up for us is the New York City Cross-Country Carnival at Fordham Prep this Saturday,” said Barry, who added that “the Division III championships are to be at Sunken Meadow on Tuesday.”

Turning to soccer, Don McGovern, who coaches East Hampton’s boys team, was happy to say Monday that the team, whose record was 7-6 as of that day, had clinched a playoff spot. The Class A seedings won’t be known until tomorrow, he said.

The boys, who are playing in a much more organized fashion than they were earlier this fall, took a four-game winning streak into yesterday’s game here with league-leading Amityville, which was 11-0-1 as of Monday.

“They’re a good team, but we are too,” said McGovern. “We’ll challenge them.”

The Bonackers made the playoffs by virtue of a 1-0 win at Wyandanch Friday, avenging an earlier-season loss. Zane Musnicki, a wide-ranging senior defender, scored the all-important goal. 

In a game played here on Oct. 9, East Hampton easily handled Westhampton Beach 3-0 as Brian Gonzalez, Anthony Quito, and Alex Vanegas score the goals. Musnicki and Vanegas were credited with assists. 

East Hampton shut out Rocky Point 3-0 on Oct.4, and defeated Miller Place 5-2 on Oct. 2. As of Monday, it was in third place in League V, behind Amityville and Sayville (9-2-2).

“We may play a county tournament game on Monday or on Wednesday, depending on where we’re seeded,” said McGovern, who, when questioned, said the team had improved its possession-style game, and that the players were “determined” now, “tougher in the box.”

While Gonzalez, Musnicki, and Vanegas were leading the way, others have contributed offensively too, he said. “We’ve grown. We’re coming together. Hopefully, we’ll peak in the playoffs.”

The junior varsity football team on Monday routed Greenport-Southold’s jayvee 50-12. Christian Johnson scored four of the touchdowns. John Berti and Danny Ortiz each scored one. Topher Cullen, the quarterback, threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Johnson, spanning 30 and 45 yards, and one to Berti, a 35-yarder. He made good on nine of his 12 passing attempts. 

“We led 26-12 at the half, and then took advantage of some turnovers in the second,” Joe McKee, the coach, said. “The kids are coming along — we’ve seen a lot of improvement.”

The jayvee is to play the Center Moriches jayvee here Monday. The game is scheduled for 4:30, but McKee said he’d like to move it up to 4. 

The girls soccer team has been doing creditably. It went into Monday’s game here with Sayville, Division II’s fifth-place team, at 5-5-1. Alden Powers, who plays center midfielder, wasn’t in East Hampton’s lineup that day, and it hurt. The ball was in East Hampton’s end for pretty much the entire first half, during which the visitors’ striker scored twice, after beating defenders in the 10th and 29th minutes. Sayville had seven corner kicks in that half, and Lucy Short, East Hampton’s goalie, had five saves. She wound up with nine saves in the 3-1 loss. Nidia Bravo, a ninth grader, scored East Hampton’s goal in the second half.

Whether the field hockey team will make the playoffs was problematic as of earlier this week. A 2-1 loss to Shoreham-Wading River here on Oct. 9 hurt. The visitors scored off a corner play and on a breakaway in the first half, defensive lapses leading to both goals. East Hampton converted a corner play in the second, but could not put in another. 

The team was in seventh place among the 14 Division II teams as of Tuesday morning, with games left with Harborfields, Greenport-Southold, and Hampton Bays. A win at Harborfields Tuesday would undoubtedly have boosted the Bonackers’ chances inasmuch as Harborfields was in third place as of that day in the power-rated division, while Greenport-Southold was last and Hampton Bays was 12th.