The Pierson (Sag Harbor) Whalers had a strong showing at the New York State cross-country championships in Queensbury on Saturday. Running in the small-school Class D race, Evelyn Rizzo, just a seventh grader, earned all-state honors with her 11th-place finish, clocking a 19:26.
The other Pierson girls competing were Sara O'Brien, a senior who ran a personal-best 21:20, good for 47th place, followed by Josie Mott, a sophomore who was all-state three years ago, finishing in 21:53, for 61st place. And senior Bennett Greene's 23:32 placed her 88th out of 115 finishers.
The girls' coach, Yani Cuesta, and the school's athletic director, Brian Tardif, were on hand to help out, warm them up, and cheer them on. The temperature topped out around 39 degrees Saturday, a gradual cloud cover moving in and winds picking up before noon, making it feel even colder.
The overall winner for Class D was Anna Furman of Tri-Valley High School of Grahamsville in Sullivan County, in 18:06. Tri-Valley won the team competition, too. Representing Suffolk County's Section XI as a team, Port Jefferson took seventh place out of 10 schools. Port Jeff's Leilani Von Oiste (20:07) was 19th out of the top 20 runners who qualify as all-state.
In the boys Class D race, Pierson's Lincoln Fischer, a freshman, ran a personal-best 18:56, landing him in the 94th spot out of 124 runners. The Port Jefferson boys took the state Class D team title.
