Newsday's All-Long Island girls cross country team 2025
Pictured left to right top row: Coach Jim Ravener of Bethpage, Maddie Laezza of Eastport-South Manor, Lexie Cole of Comsewogue, Mia Wickard of Northport, Maggie McCormick of Bayshore, Maeve Going of Sacred Heart, Zaria Hall of East Meadow, Coach Gregg Cantwell of Northport Pictured left to right bottom row: Joanna Kenney of North Shore, Fiona King of Northport, Sayla Fives of Harborfields, Olivia DiGaetano of Connetquot at the All Long Island cross country photo shoot on Monday, December 1, 2025 in Melville. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Long Island Runner of the Year — Maddie Laezza, Eastport-South Manor, Jr.
After joining the team in the middle of the regular season, she won every remaining dual meet. She broke the Suffolk record at Sunken Meadow State Park by finishing the 5-kilometer course in 18 minutes, 9.1 seconds to win Division III at the Suffolk divisional championships. The next week, at the Suffolk state qualifier meet, she reset the record in 18:01.2. At the state level, she was the public school Class B runner-up (17:15.2) and the top Long Islander at both the public school and Federation championships (17:56.3). She was third in the merged results at both state meets.
Nassau Runner of the Year — Zaria Hall, East Meadow, Sr.
The University of Miami commit was consistently the best runner in her county throughout the regular season, owning the best times on both of Nassau’s home courses: LIU Post (18:07.1) and Eisenhower Park (17:35.5). She went on to win the Nassau Class I and Class A titles, placing first in the merged results at both the class county championships and state qualifier meet. She was second among Nassau runners by 2.6 seconds at the public school state championships at Queensbury High School (18:03.8), but first in her county by 51.9 seconds at the Federation championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls (18:46.4).
First Team:
Lexie Cole, Comsewogue, Jr.
After a dynamite first year as a cross country runner in 2024, her second year left no disappointments. She was sixth on Long Island at Sunken Meadow with a season-best time of 18:42.9. She was fourth in the public school state championships' Class A race and sixth in the merge (17:32.9), and took seventh at the Federation meet (18:20.6).
Olivia DiGaetano, Connetquot, Sr.
The Temple commit posted the fifth-fastest time at Sunken Meadow (18:37.1) and was 23rd out of 481 runners, and 15th in Class A, at the public school state meet in 18:04.3.
Sayla Fives, Harborfields, Jr.
Another consistently high-level performer, she was seventh on Long Island at Sunken Meadow with a season-best time of 19:01.3. She was ninth in Class B at the public school state championships in 18:27.8 and sixth among Long Islanders at the Federation meet in 19:07.3.
Maeve Going, Sacred Heart, Sr.
She won a record-tying fourth Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA championship by finishing the 2.5 mile course at Sunken Meadow in 14:44.2. Going also won the Manhattan University Invitational on the difficult 2.5-mile course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx in 14:05 flat, which was the best time in the state at that venue. . She boasts Long Island’s fourth-fastest time at Sunken Meadow (18:37) and fifth-best mark at Bowdoin Park (18:38.5) from early-season 5K invitationals. Her season ended prematurely by injury.
Joanna Kenney, North Shore, Sr.
The Boston College commit was the top Nassau runner at the public school state meet with an 18:01.1, which was fourth in Class B and 18th in the merged results. She helped lead her team to a Nassau Class III championship and then won the individual Class B championship in 18:21.70 at the Nassau state qualifier meet.
Fiona King, Northport, Fr.
She placed sixth at the Federation championships in 18:03.5, making her the third and final Long Islander to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon. Her 17:54.4 at the public school state meet was fourth among Long Islanders. She won the Suffolk Division II championship and helped lead Northport to a Suffolk Class A team championship. Her 18:22 flat at Sunken Meadow ranked third on Long Island.
Maggie McCormick, Bay Shore, Sr.
Consistently among the elite in the state, she ranked second on Sunken Meadow’s 5K course in 18:16.6. She won both the Suffolk Division I and Class A titles. She was fifth in Class A and seventh in the merged results at the public school state meet. Her 17:58.8 at the Federation championships was second among Long Islanders and fifth overall, which qualified her for Nike Cross Nationals.
Mia Wickard, Northport, Jr.
She was tied for 10th on Long Island at Sunken Meadow (19:39.3), ranked eighth among Long Islanders at the public school state championships (18:38.6) and was seventh at the Federation meet (19:16.8).
Long Island Coach of the Year — Gregg Cantwell, Northport
After another undefeated regular season, he steered the team to its fifth consecutive Suffolk Class A championship, making them the only Suffolk program to have accomplished that feat. His crew then placed second in Class A at the public school state meet for the third straight year — another first — and third in the merged results. They finished fourth at the Federation championships. They were the top team from Long Island at both meets.
Nassau Coach of the Year — Jim Ravener, Bethpage
His mentorship led sophomore Emma Sheahan, junior Carolina Cagna and seventh grader Ariana Joe to breakout seasons. The program won both the Nassau Class II and Class B championships after going 11-2 in the regular season.
Second Team
Fayola Allison, South Side, Sr.
Her 18:30.7 at LIU Post won her the Nassau Class II individual championship. That was the third-best time on the course this year. She also ran 17th in Class B with an 18:51 in at the public school state championships.
Gemma Budek, MacArthur, Jr.
She was second at both LIU Post (18:22.9) and Eisenhower Park (18:18.7) this year and was a huge piece in her team’s Nassau Class I championship victory as its top runner. She ran 19:38.3 at the Federation meet, which was ninth at Bowdoin Park among Long Islanders this year.
Claire Delli Carpini, Cold Spring Harbor, Fr.
A former middle school tennis player, she switched her fall sport to cross country and flourished immediately, placing sixth in the Class C race at the public school state championships in 18:48.1. She won the individual championship in Nassau's Class III and Class C.
Cali Gabrielson, Mount Sinai, Soph.
She tied for 10th at Sunken Meadow with a 19:39.3. Her 17:06.7 at the Peconic Invitational was the best 5K time on Long Island this year.
Isabella Garra, Cold Spring Harbor, Jr.
After a steady regular season, she had big performances at both the class county and state qualifier meet. She ran 18:58.8 in Class C at the public school state championships.
Isabella Horn, Ward Melville, Fr.
In her first year of varsity cross country, she became the team’s top runner and helped the Patriots become one of the best squads on Long Island, winning the Suffolk Division II team title. Individually, she was 11th among Long Islanders at Sunken Meadow (19:46.4).
Ariana Madeira, Friends Academy, Fr.
She won the combined Class C and D race at the Nassau state qualifier meet. Her 18:39.7 at the public school state meet was the 10th-best performance by a Long Islander.
Leah Nowakowski, Sachem North, 8th
Another rookie to varsity cross country on Long Island who made a huge first impression. Her 19:31.6 ranked ninth at Sunken Meadow.
Camryn Szokoli, Glenn, Sr.
She ran 18:51.6 to place 19th in Class B at the public school state championships.
Jane Tucker, Northport, Fr.
As another huge piece of the Northport machine, she ran 19:15.7 to claim the No. 8 ranking at Sunken Meadow. She also ran 18:51.8 at the public school state championships.
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Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
